A Saint's Shield
by clood9
Summary: The Guardian fails to rescue legendary Titan Saint-14, sending him to another world where there is creeping Darkness but no Light to counter it. With a renewed sense of duty, he would raise his fists and his weapons to put an end to the evils that plague Remnant, and show what the Light is capable of.
1. A Titan displaced

_I never__ found Osiris, but I've killed enough Vex to end a war. And they, in turn, struck a fatal blow: they completed a Mind with the sole function to drain the Light from me. It worked very well._

_Don't worry (not that you worry much). It took them centuries to build, keyed to the unique frequency of my Light. And I sit atop its shattered husk. I mourn that I will never reach the heights you have. To me, you represent everything a Guardian can become. Yours is a thriving City. So different from mine. My whole fourteenth life I fought to make my City yours. I never finished._

_All I have left is this weapon. The Cryptarchs say you crafted it yourself, built it out of scraps and Light and sheer will, inside the Infinite Forge. I'll make sure it finds its way back to you. When you gave it to me, I swore I would make it my duty to follow your example._

_I'm still trying._

_—Saint-14_

_Lore entry for the Perfect Paradox_

* * *

A legendary Titan entered the Infinite Forest to find his dear friend Osiris, several centuries ago. It had been a strenuous search, and his resolve to find him would not waver. It never did.

Unfortunately, it was all for naught, as the Titan would not find his Warlock colleague, nor would he ever find a way out from this Vex prison. He was trapped inside a maze of countless realities, where the Vex would simulate quadrillions of possibilities of the future, where they would be the final form, the last ones standing, in the universe, one without Light, nor Darkness. They were a cunning and powerful foe, dealing only in mathematical formulas and sheer computational strength, which proved both to be his advantage, and his downfall.

The Perfect Paradox shotgun is mag-locked onto his back, its ammunition having been depleted long ago. He doesn't mind now, nor did he mind when all the Vex surrounding him were alive. His greatest weapon was his own body, and he would rather use it than conventional weaponry.

He takes a moment to retract that statement because it felt wrong to say. The Perfect Paradox was given to him by the Guardian he wishes to be, one that continues, time and time again to inspire him to continue fighting, to be like them. He remembers what she looked like. A small Hunter that glided through the battlefield with her Arc-infused fists. He doesn't remember any specific details, but that is to be expected. Perhaps her affinity with her hands is what makes him like The Guardian, he cannot choose between her resolve and that.

He learned from Osiris, a few centuries ago, that the human mind is never exact, and that the brain goes off of general points of the event, and that it would reconstruct based off of those points. The small piece of information has stuck with him ever since, and it proves itself true, as he doesn't remember what Osiris exactly said, but the content of it.

Although he is an Exo, it still applies to him, he still has the mind and tendencies of a human.

He is getting off-track.

The Perfect Paradox: He wishes to return it to its rightful owner. But how? he doesn't have much time to think, he can feel the artificial adrenaline wearing off, and his tiredness growing by the second. Darkness seeps into the corners of his vision, and his body starts failing him. Perhaps he would keep it on his body, for The Guardian to find later on.

Time stops. He is frozen. It rewinds.

He doesn't know that time is moving per se, but his gut _feels_ it going backward. Something is wrong. Life is coming back to him! His Light is returning!

This is odd, he is supposed to die here, is he not?

Then, a flash of light. A muffled voice calls out to him.

He turns to its source. It's The Guardian! How fitting of her to show up when he is thinking about returning Perfect Paradox! Perhaps she wants it back? Of course, she does, it's a fantastic piece of weaponry that she built herself, and he doesn't have any more use for it, or at least, shouldn't.

She is banging on a transparent Vex-constructed wall, yelling something to him.

"Saint! Hey, you hear me?" she says, giving a few more hits to the wall that separates two realities. "You're alive, oh thank the Traveler, you're alive!"

"So, I am…" he says, his voice a low rumble that barely escapes the vent port of his helm. "That's not possible, I remember dying already. You were supposed to take this from me." He takes Perfect Paradox in one hand, reaching it out to her, as an offering. It's battered and bruised, sporting a few marks on the slide and various dents all over the frame. It still fires true, although the slide could be a bit smoother in his personal opinion.

"Now's not the time to talk about the shotgun, you are in an unstable conflux of time, just walk through this barrier!" She turns to a person in a familiar Warlock's cloak and a face-mask reconfiguring the orientation of four cubes with various glowing inscriptions on it. "Osiris, how are we doing over there!?"

"I am working the best I can! The Vex are pulling him into a reality that I don't believe exists!"

"And what would that be!?" She looks angry. Her fist slams on the clear wall again.

Saint-14 attempts to hand her Perfect Paradox, and it pierces through the wall, the barrel appearing on the other side.

"Go, take it," he says. "Please, it's my only gift to you, God-slayer. Take care of the City." He feels himself being pulled into another reality. The weapon has to return in her hands, and if he dies, so be it, he has lived the life of a thousand Guardians.

"Hey, hey! Don't worry about that! We'll figure something out after you're safe!" She looks towards Osiris again. "Come on, tell me something good!"

A Psion Flayer appears floating above Osiris.

"Osiris!" Saint says, pointing towards the Cabal beast.

The Warlock looks up and is blasted away by a charge of Void energy.

There is a flash.

_Menagerie, Remnant_

Saint-14 finds himself on his back, his shining grey armor still on him, and the Perfect Paradox still in his hand.

He shuts his eyes and exhales, or the closest approximation an Exo can do. All is quiet, the only sound being the blowing of wind and sand particles slapping his helmet, then flying away.

Did the Vex really send him back to Mercury? His sensors are alluding to it.

With a groan, he lifts his back and assumes a sitting position. The hand holding his shotgun lets it fall into the sand for a moment, while he takes a deep breath.

He doesn't "breathe" per se, but the sensation in his chest when he does the action relaxes him, calms him. He remembers Osiris saying that oxygen only goes into two empty containers, and is expelled without any changes, maybe adding a few metal ions.

He does miss Osiris' random trivia, no matter how condescending it may sound sometimes.

Now, about his current situation. His head swivels side-to-side and he gathers a clearer image of his surroundings. Desert, and dunes. He sees a little scaly critter pitter-patter into a little hole in the ground.

"This is new," he mumbles, pushing himself to stand and scooping up the Perfect Paradox.

"Our journey doesn't end yet, friend," he says to the weapon. His Ghost died with the Vex mind, but yet, he still feels the Light coursing through his body. He makes another visual sweep of the area and manages to make out a few trees in the distance. "Perhaps I should make my way there. This temperature is scorching, not like the Infinite Forest."

He looks at his gloved palm and closes it into a fist. A charge of Light pulses and he smiles. He feels his helmet and finds the dent in it, from when he headbutted the Fallen House of Devils' Kell, sending the damned thing to its rightful and deserved death.

He should start moving now. He mag-locks the Perfect Paradox to his back and starts his journey.

/

Chameleon-Faunus Ilia Amitola unveils herself, overtop an elevated pile of sand and rock as she observes the mysterious stranger in massive, bulking and very medieval-like armor start lumbering towards Menagerie. They look like a time capsule from the Great War, and the massive shotgun that is easily half her size doesn't make her have any good feelings about them.

Is it an Atlesian battle mech? Are they planning to invade Menagerie, and this is the first sign? Ilia squints as they very slowly disappear from vision, going downwards into a dune of sand. She also sees a Deathstalker approaching the person, yet they don't pay the beasts much attention. Does this person have a death wish or something?

She camouflages herself with the sand, and hops over to another hill, observing the titanic knight. They stop, say something that is just a low rumble to her ears, and pull out the shotgun on their back.

He is obviously a man, judging from the pitch of his voice. He says something she can't quite describe and leans forward, taking a step back.

The Death Stalker screeches and charges, its two pincers ready and its stinger primed to pounce onto its victim. The man stays put and instead of shooting, he re-holsters his weapon.

"Are you insane!?" Ilia whispers to herself.

The Death Stalker continues advancing, and the man summons a purple shield from nothing.

_What?_ She thinks, her mouth opening a bit in shock.

The man readies the shield and it casts a wider range, almost equaling the width of the Deathstalker. The Grimm attacks with its stinger and it simply _bounces_ off. The man only moves maybe an inch backward. He throws the shield like a frisbee, towards the stinger and another one materializes in his hands.

"Come on!" The man cries out as the stinger is quickly cut from the Grimm's body. "Is that all you have!?" It screeches once more in pain and the stalk that connects to the limb curls inwards. It lashes out with one pincer and starts backing away. The man simply deflects it by pushing his shield forward, leaning his entire body into the strike and then throws another shield to cut that part off too, plus a few legs.

Ilia was too focused on the purple shield that she hadn't seen that he was also entirely purple too, and only just noticed when his weapon disappears, returning him to his regular form.

The Deathstalker by now is a limping mess.

"Your size betrays your strength!" he bellows, putting his boot on its head and pressing his shotgun to the bone carapace. There is a single blast and the beast is put down, turning into a black mist that wisps away into black smoke

Ilia's eyes widen at the thought of a Huntsman with such power at their disposal. She has to warn the White Fang chapter at Menagerie, and quick. She prepares to depart but stops, keeping her gaze fixed on the stranger.

Perhaps she can convince him to join them?

Not yet, she has to gather information on the person first, which means she'll follow him and observe his actions.

She camouflages herself and starts tailing the man.

/

The encounter with the black scorpion beast disappoints Saint-14. He had hoped for a better brawl, judging from its massive size.

His photoreceptors squint as he sees a small hint of movement on the top of the hills that surround him, and momentarily notices small footsteps in the sand that are quickly swept away by the wind.

He shrugs and continues making his way to the trees in the distance.

The trees are massive, of surreal proportions that Saint had never seen before. The tallest trees he had ever laid his eyes on were on Mercury when it was still a garden world, but those were yellow, unlike the pure, natural green here.

A small, four-legged critter climbs up his armor, choosing to stay on his massive shoulder. It squeaks a bit, a high-pitched affair. Its tail looks like the swirl of a brown cinnamon bun. He turns his head towards it and observes with interest as it drops something from its puffed-up cheeks and starts nibbling on them. On closer inspection, they seem to be a variety of nuts.

Saint wants to stand still, to let the little thing enjoy its meal, but he has to move, and find civilization. He knows that he is far away from the Last City if he is still on Earth in the first place. Osiris mentioned something about him being pulled into a reality that doesn't exist. He hopes for the former, but his intuition is telling him otherwise.

Another odd thing is that he can access his inventory, despite his Ghost being nowhere to be seen. He still has some weapons from his original expedition to Mercury and some odd new ones.

_What is The Recluse? _The SMG looks way too small for his hands, and he figures that he would struggle more with fitting his finger inside the trigger guard rather than shooting it.

The Valakadyn sets off a bit of anger as he remembers falling for the VEIST advertisement and ordering two, one for him and one for Osiris.

Osiris didn't accept it, and so he sold it at a loss, which was easy enough since it was an in-demand weapon.

Brushing aside the bitter memory, he equips the weapon alongside the Perfect Paradox and trudges along, through the thick shrubbery that impedes him slightly, but he crushes them beneath his weight.

Something snaps somewhere above him. A branch falls unceremoniously, thumping against the soft dirt.

Saint looks upwards, into the trees.

"If someone is following me, reveal yourself. I mean no harm," he says. "I am simply lost."

A pair of grey eyes meet his gaze. He squints to try and distinguish more of their body to no avail, they're camouflaged with the trees.

"I see you up there," Saint says. "Please, just reveal yourself, I do not want to fight."

The eyes squint, before disappearing. Saint sighs and his shoulders slump a bit.

Something pricks the back of his neck.

"Hands up," the woman behind him says. "Now."

"Lady, I am peaceful," Saint says. "May I turn around?"

"No. Tell me where you're from first and we'll go from there." The woman's voice is icy, suspicious. He can understand why.

"My name is Saint-Fourteen," he says, moving forward one step. "I serve to protect others, but if you wish to harm me, then you will meet your end."

The weapon poking him falters a bit. "Turn around."

Saint turns around. The woman in front of him is easily half his size, but he can tell she has strength in her, despite her slimness and miniature form. The top half of her face is covered by a white bone mask with red streaks as eyebrows and two horns on the sides of the forehead. She keeps her weapon drawn, and the tip pointed at his chest.

"Now you're gonna tell me what you're doing in Menagerie and maybe, we can be friends."

He sighs. "Is that what this place is called? Menagerie?" He pauses. "I'll remember it."

"Yeah, what does that have to do-" There is a growl from between the trees. "Shit, Grimm."

"…What?"

"Yes, Grimm, big whoop," she says quite sarcastically.

"…Okay."

"That shield you used earlier, bring it out again."

"You've been following me?"

"Now is not the time to be arguing about who was following who!"

"Are they surrounding us?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Then I have something better."

Saint channels the Void Light in him and reaches his arms out to the sides. A purple half-dome appears on both him and the stranger. A wolf-like being with a mask of bone and red eyes is pushed away mid-lunged by the Ward of Dawn. He feels his fist charged with power.

"Okay…what is this?" The stranger says, looking around apprehensively. "Are you just going to keep me in here until they go away?"

""No. We are fighting them."

Saint-XIV steps outside of the purple barrier and throws a single punch to a dark wolf, sending it to its death as it slams into a tree and fades into black mist.

"So that's your plan? Punch them all to death?" The woman asks, incredibly sarcastically.

"That is my plan. What you do with the Light is none of my concern."

She takes a tentative step outside the bubble and strikes a Grimm with her whip, killing it in one blow.

"What the fuck?" She says to herself. "How?"

"Talk less, and fight!" Saint says as he grabs another wolf by the neck and slams it down.

They fight for what feels like an eternity, with no pauses in between waves of wolves. Saint feels the Ward of Dawn starting to run out.

"Be ready, the Ward is running out," he says, smashing two wolves together and smushing their heads into one. He drops the bodies and kicks another to Ilia, who cuts it down into halves with a deft slice of her weapon.

"Got it!" The woman's whip turns into a sword and she uses it to slash at the Grimm, effectively taking them down in one or two swipes.

The Ward of Dawn disappears, and the Grimm are unfortunately still attacking.

_They're persistent like the Vex, _Saint thinks. All that really matters to him about an enemy is how hard he has to punch to bring it down.

"Ah, damn it." Saint takes out Perfect Paradox and bashes once with its stock, shooting once for good measure. Another comes at him from behind and his fist punches through its underside. He throws the corpse down and continues firing at any Grimm wolves that would get close to either of them.

"Behind you!" He calls out to the woman, and she turns around but is hit in the back by a claw. She goes down with a pained cry. Saint takes down the wolf with a single shot blast. "Damn! Are you okay!?"

He stares at the cut in her armor, and the crimson red claw-mark piercing her skin.

Behind all the rabid and vicious animals, he can hear footsteps, and then long barrages of gunfire.

"Go, fan out! Someone find Ilia!" A man's voice says, followed by two bursts of a weapon. A man wearing a grey vest without sleeves and a helmet that covers the eyes come out from between the trees and they both meet eyes for a second. He raises his weapon.

"I-Identify yourself! What are you doing with her!?" The man says, uncomfortable shifting as he shakily holds his small assault rifle.

"Calm yourself, I'm her ally," Saint says. "She was injured by these…Grimm."

"You're White Fang too?"

"We will discuss my affiliation later."

More gunfire, and then more men surround Saint-14.

"Hands up! We have you surrounded fifteen-to-one! Let Ilia go!" A woman says as fourteen more soldiers in the same white-and-grey uniforms emerge from the forestry with their weapons all pointed at him.

"G-Guys-"

"I think those odds still favor me if you desire to fight," Saint muses, shouldering his shotgun. They all tense, and he can see some grip their weapon tighter. "A joke. She is injured, we must get her medical attention."

The woman who addressed Saint steps back, and only then he notices the antlers coming from her head. He is surprised but manages to not show it.

"G-guys…he's friendly…" Ilia mumbles, just barely audible enough for everyone to hear. "And he's right about the odds…"

"W-What!?" The woman says, surprised. "Whatever, come on, let's get out of this dump!"

Saint looks down to Ilia, and scoops her up, carrying him over his shoulder.

"Ilia, is it?" He asks.

"Yeah…" She whispers back, her voice pained.

"I will remember it. I would also need a list of names of the people that rescued us."

"Rescued me, you mean."

* * *

**Happy Season of Dawn, people! Seeing Saint-XIV in that trailer, alongside my rising interest in RWBY pushed me to make this.**

**Edit: Fixed up some sentence issues, implemented some feedback to the chapter.**


	2. Kuo Kuana

**Keep the reviews coming. Saint is never gonna use a weapon past D2 Y1, nor any exotics.**

* * *

The White Fang seems to be an interesting bunch of people. For one, all of them have an animal trait, which explains why Ilia was able to cloak herself based on her surroundings: She is part-chameleon.

A chameleon; Saint hasn't seen any of those before.

Her breathing is steady now, which is good, and the wound has closed up surprisingly quickly. She is currently asleep, her body slumped over his shoulder, and Saint doesn't desire to interrupt it.

"So, where you from?" A soldier asks, from his left. He pivots his head and looks down at the elk-Faunus who accompanies him, alongside the fourteen other White Fang troops. He can tell their uneasiness; it's obvious, judging from how they all walk tensely, while some take obvious looks behind themselves.

"…Far," Saint says. He has to be careful about the information he gives away. This world doesn't seem to be his, and he doesn't know what kind of trouble can come after him.

"Yeah, 'course you're from far, tell me something that isn't obvious," the woman says sarcastically, rolling her shoulders. "Alright, let's start with basics. What's your name?"

"…Saint," he replies.

"Fitting. Fang could use someone like you. That Ghira guy from the Belladonnas scares me." The woman pauses for a moment. "My name's Anna."

"I'll remember it."

She ocularly scans him up-to-down and slings her weapon over her shoulder.

Saint doesn't feel like talking right now, he's still a bit worried about Ilia. He gives her one last glance, as a final wellness check.

"Alright we're at camp, you can set her down at barracks," Anna says, and starts to leave, stopping mid-turn with a sudden realization dawning on her face. "I should show you the way," she quietly says, a tinge of embarrassment in it.

The camp reminds him of the Last City before the walls were erected. A bunch of non-descript buildings that are made to be dismantled in a few hours, although the wooden shrine-building in the center of it all is odd. There are roughly made signs littered in front and beside passageways decorated with arrows that point to various facilities.

Saint huffs and follows Anna as they make their way through the camp, gathering stares from the other soldiers doing various menial chores, some even entirely stopping what they're doing just to look at him.

He feels like a caged animal right now.

"Did this guy save Ilia?" He hears one whisper.

"Is he gonna fight with us?"

"Guy looks like a tank. We sure he isn't an Atlas mech that went rogue?"

Saint's free hand balls into a fist at the last comment, and he considers confronting the man who said it, but decides not to. There is no point in arguing with his first contact in Menagerie, it will only land him in trouble with these people. He looks up and sees a flag blowing against a light breeze: It has a black background and a wolf's head in red at the center, with a claw mark going through it, also in red.

He wonders if he stumbled into a terrorist group, judging from the aggressiveness spoken through their flag alone. He remembers taking out such groups in precise tactical operations ordered by the Speaker, _Father_, himself. They were mostly traitors that worked with the Fallen to sell out humanity for monetary gain, or fanatics that attempted to harvest Vex machines for their nefarious purposes.

He shakes the thought out of his head and keeps looking forward. Anna stops next to a big tent and makes a sweeping hand motion towards it.

"This is her barracks," she says, flashing a small smile.

Saint bends his knees and pulls the curtain that acts as a door aside. A hand grips him by the shoulder.

"I just want to say thanks," Anna says. "For saving Ilia from that mess."

"…No need, it's my duty."

"Really are a damn saint, huh?"

"They don't call me Saint for nothing, now I have to get going. Don't want to wake the injured." He cocks his head towards Ilia.

"Right, I'll see you around. I'm the weapon-smith here by the way, so if you need anything fixed just let me know."

"I will keep that in mind." He wonders if she can help him with Perfect Paradox's slide?

Saint gives Anna a short nod before they part ways. He ducks into the tent. Inside there are a few uninteresting-looking cots with small pillows and thin blankets draped over them, all in the old-fashioned army green.

A distant memory comes back to him: A survivor gave him a piece of clothing of this same color, saying that it was from the "United States, pre-Golden Age." Whatever that meant, he hasn't done the research yet.

He sets Ilia down on a cot with a dirty inscription of her name on a wood plate taped to the wall above and tucks her in with the frail blanket.

_This thing wouldn't last a single winter, maybe not even a bad autumn, _Saint thinks.

Perhaps these animal-people have a different resilience to the weather, unlike humans or the Awoken. He exhales quietly, then leaves the barracks.

He needs to rest, and that corner behind the bushes does look enticing.

. . .

"So, this is the guy that saved you?" Saint is rudely awakened from his power nap that coincidentally lasted the entire night by someone's voice. "You sure he didn't just sit on you to keep you safe?"

A snicker from that same male voice.

"Cut it out, this guy throws a mean punch and I guarantee, you _won't _be alive to talk about it," Ilia says. "Trifa, come on, just look at him."

"He does look like a machine."

Saint leans forward from his slumped position, and stretches the ball joints in his limbs, a near-silent hiss coming from his servos. "Can I help any of you?" He blinks a few times and looks at the three White Fang standing in front of him. The one in the middle is Ilia, the one to the left is a man with bat wings and the one to her right has bulging grey veins running down her arms.

"Yeah, you can stop sleeping behind bushes, for one," Ilia says. "You could've asked for a spot."

"He will take up an entire barrack-hey, ow!" The man is elbowed mid-sentence. "What!?"

"We accommodate guests here, _right?_" Ilia says, through gritted teeth as she glares at the person beside her. "Now, _introduce yourselves, and nicely._"

"Normally I wouldn't let you get away with those comments," Saint stands up, and stretches his fingers. "However, since your…organization has been so gracious to have me sleep in a safe settlement, I will allow it."

"Just this once." He looks down at the winged-man, who's mouth flatlines and he visibly gets nervous. "I do not wish to hurt any of you. Now, let us introduce ourselves, starting with you, bat-boy."

The three get visibly insulted at the last remark. Ilia looks at him incredulously, then reddens and turns to her two colleagues. "Can you guys give us a moment?"

"If he doesn't apologize for that-"

Ilia turns Saint around and pulls him forward a bit.

"I know you're not from around here but we _don't say that around here!_" She whispers.

"You heard me last night?"

"Besides the point!"

"Right, my apologies."

"Tell it to them!"

They both leave their little huddle and turn back to the other two Faunus, who are quite agitated and unhappy.

"I have said something I shouldn't have. Apologies, I am from a far continent, and everyone is quite…blunt about others' appearances. Don't take it as a slight against you," Saint says. "I hope you can accept my apology, the three of you." He extends his hand out.

""Watch your tongue, then. Yuma." The newly identified Yuma grudgingly takes his hand.

"Understood, and you?" He turns to the grey-haired woman with dull, grey veins coursing through her body.

"What Yuma said. Name's Trifa." She shakes his hand and winces at his grip. "I hope Ilia is right about you."

It takes a bit of effort for Saint to remove his hand, as it suddenly becomes…sticky. He doesn't mention it, though.

He wipes his sticky hand on his armor, and he looks around the camp, taking in its bleak look. Everything looks dead, and there is like a grey veil that covers the entire area. Perhaps it's because there are clouds over top.

_Clouds..._he hasn't seen those in quite a bit of time. He keeps his gaze affixed on them, slowly tracing their slow movement with his photoreceptors. He wonders if rain is going to come soon, now that would be a sight to behold.

"…You okay there? The clouds particularly interesting?" Ilia asks, as she also looks up with him. "You haven't seen rain before?"

"…Rain, no, I haven't seen rain since I entered the Forest…" he mumbles to himself, entirely unaware that there are three other people with possibly enhanced traits surrounding him. "Scorching heat and Vex…"

"…What?" She says, cocking her head to the side and looking at him perplexed.

He shakes himself out of the self-inflicted trance. "Don't worry about it."

"I won't ask."

Saint huffs, and turns to Ilia. "Is there any other settlement in the region?"

"Yeah, there's Kuo Kuana, just down north. Bunch of people there," Ilia says. "I can show you around, if you'd like, after meeting the brothers, of course."

"The brothers?"

"They live in that small shrine in the middle, they lead this whole operation."

"Understood."

Saint departs without a word.

/

Once the massive Saint has left the range of hearing typical of Faunus, Yuma snarls.

"That guy is an asshole," he says. "You sure he's Faunus?"

Ilia rolls her shoulders. "He said he's not from here." She takes a moment to think about his question. "And…I don't know, actually."

"What? You're telling me he could be a spy that you just _willingly_ let in!?" Trifa exclaims, somewhat agitated now. "Ilia, I thought you were more careful than this!"

"It was a gut feeling, when he found out that I was following him, he didn't even react negatively," Ilia says. "I was the one that escalated."

"Should've just left him in the forest," Yuma mumbles, snorting afterward. His wings spread out a bit; stretching. "What exactly happened yesterday?

Ilia sighs, and sits on a nearby rock. "I was scouting the desert, then I found Saint laying on the ground, and he just started walking towards our camp."

"You think he knew about us?" Trifa asks.

"I don't think so, again, no way to confirm that," Ilia says. "I followed him for a while, and he ran into a Deathstalker."

"A Deathstalker?" Yuma furrows his brows. "Actually, nevermind, so he encountered a Deathstalker, continue." He crosses his arms.

"He tore it to pieces with a shield and finished it off with a shotgun. Dead in a minute." Ilia leans forward, rubbing the sides of her temples. "I thought he was a Huntsman, but from how clueless he is about…everything, that can't be possible."

"Suspicious, very much so," Yuma says, throwing another glance towards the wooden shack that the Albain brothers used as their shrine. "Go on."

"Followed him into the forest, and I was sloppy and managed to break a branch-"

"He's leaving the camp." Trifa points towards Saint, who's lumbering his way with surprising speed towards the entrance.

"I'll follow him."

She camouflages herself and catches up, reappearing at his side. "Hey, where are you-"

"The brothers told me to…acquaint myself with the people of Kuo Kuana," he says flatly.

"And you just decided to leave without me?"

"I don't think they ever mentioned that you were to accompany me."

"Well I am sticking with you."

"If you wish, then by all means."

/

The Albain brothers are quite odd. They remind him of the New Monarchy leader, Executor Hideo, but if he had a twin brother that knew how to finish off his sentences, and they would always agree with each other.

Saint-14 may be unaware of some parts of society, but he can safely say that he is not as _weird_ as them.

The clouds have cleared up, which somewhat disappoints him, but it is nice to see a bright sun in the vibrantly blue sky that didn't take up the entirety of it like Sol did on Mercury.

Saint continues walking down a path through thick forestry, occasionally having to push past a few errant plant growths that stood in his path, while Ilia just hopped over with grace. The two are silent until the last of the shrubbery is pushed away to reveal what may be one of the most beautiful villages he has ever seen.

"This is Kuo Kuana?" He asks, his artificial breath taken away from him as he sees the many little dots roaming the dirt streets, corresponding to actual _people._ It looks like there are more inhabitants here than the Last City! Compared to what he recalls of it, this is certainly a paradise.

"Yeah, kind of nice, isn't it?" Ilia smiles, leaning on a tree. "It's just too bad the Faunus are doomed here," she says, cynicism dripping from her voice.

"I don't understand, this…settlement is sprawling, full of life!"

"We've been forced here, by humans who thought that by giving us a tiny corner in some island in the middle of nowhere they would please us." She scoffs. "And when some Faunus move to the mainland, they're treated like absolute shit."

He understands her plight. The Fallen pushed humanity into one last corner underneath the Traveler, and even then, they continued attacking.

However, humans? Are the Faunus being oppressed by them?

He thinks about the potential implications of this. Did the Vex send him so far into the future that there are now _two _species of humankind? How would the Faunus even crop up? Where is the Traveler in all this?

Where is the Traveler, in the first place? The question dominates his mind. He has to do more research for further confirmation, but his mind is further veering into accepting the "alternate reality" theory.

"Hey, you okay? You look phased out," Ilia asks.

"Sorry, I was thinking about some things. Home, mostly," Saint says, his voice low and solemn. "To think that I would stumble my way into...is this what the City would become?"

That couldn't be right, the village is next to a sea, and there are no walls to speak of. Are there other settlements like the Last City?

"Are there no Faunus where you're from?" Her hair curls inwards into a swirl.

"I don't recall ever seeing any."

"Huh, weird, what continent are you from?"

Saint waves her off and grunts, as he knows he can't answer her in a satisfactory manner. "Let's get down into the village."

Ilia furrows her brows. "Okay, then...here, catch." She tosses him a flat, rectangular object. "It'll help us keep in contact, I can ping you my location and you can do the same with me."

He looks at the device, and it powers on with a bright white backdrop that looks like it can blind someone in the dark.

"Don't worry if it has someone else's name on it, it has a…um, a virus."

"…A virus?"

"Yeah, you know, computer stuff."

"I see."

"Come on, let's go."

The device integrates quite well with Exo systems.

. . .

Kuo Kuana is quite small when viewed from up close. Saint doesn't know whether to attribute that to his massive size or if everyone is just _small_ here. The inhabitants turn their heads to look at him like he's some sort of freak or attraction, and justifiably so since he stands at least half a foot taller than the tallest person he can make out. Ilia stays beside him, occasionally tapping his arm to get his attention; to tell him about something she finds neat or describe a part of the village's history whenever a landmark would come up.

Saint stops at a stand carrying a variety of apples. The caretaker of it visibly pales and then finds something to do, leaving him alone with the red, pink and green fruit, all mixed into woven seagrass baskets. He kneels, so he can fit his head under the small tarp that is providing shade. On the front of the baskets is a list of prices for a single apple, for three and then for five.

He has never seen such colorful produce before, everything from the City were either miserably bruised or a dull shade of whatever color the original was supposed to be. He remembers a few settlers that took pride in their plants, but none of them ever could compare to _this._

_This world is thriving! _Saint thinks as he picks an apple up, carefully holding it so he doesn't drop or accidentally bruise it. It fits neatly inside his palm, but he looks at Ilia's and estimates that it would take up the entire surface area of her hand. He stares at the fruit for quite a while, marveling at its qualities.

"Beautiful," he mumbles, then looks up to the vendor. "Are these yours?"

He laughs nervously and scratches the back of his neck, baring his teeth in an obvious show of jitteriness. "Uh, yeah, my…erm, family grows lots of fruits, and stuff." He shoots a glance at the vendor beside him, silently begging for them to save him from this tall and scary man.

Saint can tell the body language. Perhaps he should leave the man be.

"They're perfect," he says, and gently puts the apple back into the basket.

"Saint, are you bothering someone?" Ilia asks as she comes in from underneath his arm. "Oh, the apples."

"Oh, hey, Ilia! Is this guy with you? Another recruit for the…White…Fang…?" The vendor gulps and his voice gets progressively quieter as the sentence finishes.

"Don't worry about him, I'm here to keep him out of trouble, in case he gets in any, come on Saint, let's go-oh shit!" Ilia climbs up on his back and her skin changes to his armor's color. "Whatever you do, don't turn your head towards the main road!" She whispers.

Saint does as he is told and stays so still that he could be confused for a statue.

An uncomfortable minute passes.

"Alright, we're good, she didn't notice."

/

"You see that huge guy at that stand?" Sun Wukong asks, giving another suspicious look at that monstrously huge man standing extremely still at some fruit stand.

"I did," Blake says. "He looks new to Menagerie, everyone looks like they're creeped out by him."

"You think he'll cause any trouble?" Sun asks, chuckling nervously.

"He better not."

The two Faunus walk side-by-side as they make their way to the Belladonna household, situated at the center of Menagerie.

Blake is silently nervous about how her parents would react to her just showing up out of the blue, after abandoning them like she did to fight with the White Fang.

She hears loud footsteps to her left, and instinctively reaches for Gambol Shroud, stashed on her back. She stops walking and tenses, waiting for the steps to grow quieter. Fortunately, they do, and she wants to continue on her way, but a gut feeling pulls her to turn around.

It's the giant person, his back is turned to them.

"Sun, go ahead, I'll be right back," Blake says as she turns towards the person, and hides behind the wall of a nearby house.

"But Blake-"

"Don't worry, I'll meet you at the house," she whispers. Her cat ears twitch once and she focuses on the conversation of a small child and the giant.

"Sir, we lost our frisbee up in that tree, over there, could you help us?" The child only reaches up to his ankle.

The man huffs. "Of course," he says, his tone not sparking any suspicious flags. Blake furrows her eyebrows as the children accompany the man to the aforementioned tree and point towards the pink frisbee stuck in the branches.

"You may want to back up, for safety reasons," he says, before winding his fist.

Blake winces as he punches the tree's trunk and manages to free the children's toy from it. Once it drops, he picks it up and kneels down, offering it to the kid. "Before you take it, I want to ask you one thing," he says.

"Sure!"

"What is your name?" He asks.

Blake knows she has nothing else to listen for and catches up with Sun.

"So, anything interesting? Our giant steal something?" He asks, and she shakes her head in response.

"He punched a tree."

"Yeah, I could tell, and so could everyone in Menagerie." Sun stretches his arms. "He hits hard."

"I can tell," Blake snaps, mildly annoyed now. "Come on, we're almost there."

. . .

The walk to the Belladonna household is silent. The two come up upon the grand steps, and soon face themselves right at the front door.

Blake reaches her arm out for the metal door knocker, but hesitates and drops it.

"What? What's wrong?" Sun asks.

"Well…it's-it's been a long time since I've seen my parents," she says.

"Well, we came all this way." He gives an encouraging smile, and puts one hand on her shoulder. Blake takes a deep breath, grabs the metal ring, and hits the door once with it.

Sun is surprised by the sound it makes, and looks up the door, seeing the vibration travel.

Blake's mother is the one to open it for them. "Blake?"

"Hi, mom." Blake gives an awkward wave. The two of them stare at each other for a second, one in stunned silence and the other with previously held-back regrets. Her mom is the one to come close and wrap her in a close hug.

"Oh, my baby girl…" she mutters into her daughter's ear. Blake returns the embrace.

"Kali, who is it!?" Her father walks into view, stopping with his hands at his hips. Once he sees her, his face is consumed by a surprised stare.

. . .

The Belladonna family plus a misplaced monkey-Faunus converse over cups of tea, the latter embarrassing himself in front of the father, but the mother seems to be taking a liking to him, much to the chagrin of her daughter.

Their pleasant little get-together is interrupted by someone harshly knocking on the front door. A single pound.

Ghira groans. "Darn, I completely forgot about the meeting." His fist gently hits the table.

"Ghira…" Kali puts her hand on his.

"Give me a moment," he sighs and stands up, heading towards the entrance.

"Is everything okay?" Blake asks, looking concerned at her mother.

"Yes dear, just poor timing." Kali takes a small inhale. "It's just been hard dealing with them lately."

"Dealing with who?" Blake asks as her mom takes a sip of her tea.

"Mm?" Kali removes the cup from her lips. "The White Fang."

"What!?" Blake and Sun both say as they both stand up in sync.

The two rush towards the front entrance.

"Dad!" Blake says, making her father turn. At the door are two men in clay-pot colored robes with their palms stuck together and perpendicular to their chests. The one on the right has fox ears sticking out the top of his clock.

"Miss Belladonna…" the left one begins, his voice deep and bassy.

"We had no idea you had returned," the right one finishes, his voice of a more centered nature.

"What are you doing talking to these people!?" Blake asks, shooting a nasty glare at the two. By then she also notices the tall man from earlier behind them. He is still wearing the same hulking battle armor.

"This is Corsac and Fennec Albain." Ghira points towards the two cloaked people. "They represent the White Fang here in Menagerie now…although I'm not sure about the one behind them."

"Saint-Fourteen," the armored man speaks up, his voice gruff and heavily accented. "Good to meet you." He nods.

Ghira returns the nod. "And that is Saint...Fourteen, I suppose."

"These psychos are here too!?" Sun says, clutching his hands to his head.

"Young man…" Fennec is interrupted by Saint tapping him on the shoulder. The armored one whispers something into the representative. "…Alright."

Saint turns around and starts walking away, his footsteps making a hard impact with every step he descends.

/

Saint-14 can't be bothered with introductions when he has entire beautiful village to explore. Too much unnecessary talk is his justification for it, which is also the reason why he had a slight dislike for being the Titan Vanguard. He intends to make his way back to camp, and is very much on route but stops when he hears the cat-eared girl in the white jacket speak.

"The White Fang was at the fall of Beacon…they attacked innocent civilians and they released Grimm into the school."

He stops in his tracks and turns.

Ghira is loud enough to be heard from this far. "Explain yourselves."

Corsac talks about how the White Fang stopped following a certain "high-leader Khan" but instead an "Adam Taurus" who is supposedly extreme in his philosophies, and that he is the leader of a radical and violent splinter group operating within the White Fang.

He continues on his path, but keeps a mental note that he will have to learn more about this later.

Hopefully Ilia doesn't lie to him about this to him, like she did about the stolen device.

* * *

**Towards writing the second half of this chapter, I finished the Corridor of Time mission and _wow_ that was great. Also finished up my Unbroken title after exclusively playing PvP for the first two days of the season.**

**Edit: redid some sentencing, added a tidbit based on the leaked lines from Saint-14.**

**Edit 2: fixed some more**


	3. Eliksni Strategy

**I'm seeing in some reviews interpretations of Saint-14 that I feel aren't truthful to his entire character. **

**To ksgrip: I am pretty sure you are referring to the Saint-14 that we see in the Corridors of Time mission, because he is a lot more in line with what you say there imo.**

**To Guest: Maybe I'm missing something in the lore? I read on Ishtar Collective most of the pieces that mention him and I'm pretty sure he is a bit more nuanced than what you're describing. Hell, in some of the newer lore entries ("Searching" in the latest book) the Speaker thinks he has the right temperament to be the new Speaker (although the Speaker we do know is a bit of an egotistical asshole, so take that as you will), and I assume he is quite a bit smarter than the stereotyped Titan, being Vanguard and all.**

**About VEIST, there's not much lore on the weapon foundries, so I just assumed they were the same as Hakke, SUROS, Omolon and the like. I'll probably edit it out for one of the Sundial weapons.**

* * *

_A few days pass..._

Saint's head swivels side-to-side as he absorbs the miserableness of this White Fang camp. At this point, it's comical levels of bad.

The Last City was never this…dull, was it? He wonders. Everyone walks around like they're corpses, doing their menial tasks without a word to each other. On Earth, people would be yelling expletives at each other, laughing at some quip or joke or discussing among themselves what the next move would be.

He huffs and pings Ilia with his tablet device, hoping to reach her. A ding from the device a second later.

Sorry, a bit busy right now, I'll get back to you asap, the message reads. He exhales in slight annoyance but doesn't pay too much mind. She does seem to be quite an active member of the Fang.

Speaking of which, what he overheard earlier is still fresh in his mind. He doesn't quite understand the relationship between Faunus and humans. Is it something like humans and Exo?

Ilia does have some serious explaining to do.

Saint hears some metal banging on metal in the distance, then a loud swear. He turns towards the source and makes his way there, taking a second or so to process the voice as Anna's. He brushes past a few soldiers loudly grumbling at their crooked and worn weapons.

Anna is sitting on a small stool that is a size too small for her, hammering away at a sword. A metal arm carrying what looks to be a torch burns away over the metal, only getting it hot and not melting. Surrounding everything is a sort of scanner comprised of a floating camera. A module attaches to the camera, but its purpose is unknown.

He taps her on the shoulder.

"Leave your weapon on the-oh, it's…it's you." Anna turns to him and wipes the sweat off of her brow. "Hey Saint, you need anything?"

"Do you need help?" he asks, looking at her very rudimentary setup. So very different from the weapon foundries he has toured. He remembers liking the Häkke factory the most. "It seems you are struggling."

"Yeah, the damn torch doesn't burn hot enough, I ordered a new one months back but the shipment didn't come yet." She groans and takes off her gloves, tossing them to the table beside her workstation. "And you know what's the stupid thing? It gets them at melting temperature but doesn't actually melt it. Can you believe that?"

Saint snorts and smirks. "I might be able to help."

"You got a new torch for me?" Anna asks, her eyes turning hopeful.

"One that can work for an hour or so." He cracks his knuckles. "You might want to back away, I haven't done this in a while."

She takes a few steps backward. "I don't know what you're planning on doing but-"

Saint channels the Solar Light inside him and then his entire body ignites into flames. He burns brightly and hums in satisfaction. "I still have it…" he mumbles, then points with his free hand towards the sword inside the mold. "This sword here?"

Anna has backed away another five steps. "Um, yeah! Go for it!" she says, giving him a nervous smile and a thumbs up.

Saint looks at the well-used and dinged up weapon. He makes sure it's snug inside, then begins hitting it with his hammer. As expected, his Light is hot enough to melt the metal, allowing it to flow into its ideal, pristine form.

"Whoa." Anna steps forward a bit. "You can do that?"

"Yes," Saint says. "Now let's get to work, I can't stay like this forever."

She nods, puts her goggles and slides her hands into her thick goggles. Her first action is to bring out another broken weapon: A rifle with a few parts already disassembled. The scanner whirs to life when it detects the new object. A blue beam sweeps over the weapon and the module attached prints a new cast.

Anna quickly slots the pieces inside their respective places, then nods to Saint. He nods back and starts hammering.

The two continue working on weapons. Anna gives him the weapons, and he hammers them back into the desired form.

By then, a pile of weaponry has formed without any tags. The White Fang soldiers complain as they sort through it. Saint turning his head to look at them shuts them up.

Once Saint's Light dies down, the hammer disappears, and the camp grows darker. Anna exhales and takes off her gloves again, wiping her hands and forehead with a cloth towel.

"Well I'll be damned, I never thought that you were the torch, heh." She grins at him and lightly punches him on the shoulder. "Just a bag of tricks, aren't you?"

"Only for those who are worthy of it," Saint replies, stretching the fingers that held the hammer. "Have the White Fang treated you well?"

Anna takes a moment to think about the question. "I would say so, they're the only family I have since…well, since my actual one left to work at the SDC."

"SDC?"

"Schnee Dust Company?"

Saint slowly nods. Perhaps they are like a weapon foundry?

"They treated Faunus like slaves," Anna scoffs. "My family's naiveté is what killed them, but I can't blame them for having hope that life would get better in Mantle."

Hope. He's quite intimate with the concept of it. Hope is what drove him to help build the Last City under the Traveler's shadow. He hoped that maybe someday it would be as big as The Guardian showed him. He smiles at the feeling but also understands that it can be dangerous, poisonously so.

The colonists that were with him on the mission to reclaim Mercury. They were hopeful, with extravagant dreams for the future. The Fallen killed them mercilessly. The House of Rain followed them from the Cosmodrome.

He is still angry at himself for being so foolish and not anticipating it. He sometimes wishes to go back in time and save them.

"…Saint?" Anna's voice breaks him out of his train of thought. "Everything alright?"

"Hm?" He looks away from the floor. "Oh, sorry, I was thinking about the past." He exhales.

"Something you need to talk about?"

He shakes his head. "No need, there are more important things to deal with, no time for sobbing at the past." It's the mentality that has kept him going throughout his entire life. That, and the occasional quiet moments where he could observe pigeons in one of the Last City's few parks.

The device at his waist vibrates. He takes it out and swipes on the glass screen to bring up the message from Ilia.

_Need your help tonight, be in Kuo Kuana around the Belladonna household. I'll keep you updated_. Saint ponders for a moment at what Ilia could be hoping to achieve having him patrol the village at night.

He hums. "I will see you later, Anna," he says, a small smile forming under his helmet.

"Before you go," she says while rummaging inside a box that clinks a lot. "Here, have this." She tosses him a small pistol that fits inside his palm.

"…A pistol?"

"I don't have any more use for it, but it's valuable. Keep it safe for me."

"You're surely not serious." He inspects the weapon closely, every little ding and mark on it shines when lit by the fire.

"I am, though. Keep it, maybe it can help out." She softly smiles and closes his palm over it. "Consider it thanks for helping me out."

He tucks the weapon away. "I will remember it."

Anna smirks. "I'll see you around."

/

_Mercury._

Saint-14 awakens on harsh dirt. He looks at his palm, a burned and scarred metal returning his gaze. His breath hitches, and he looks around. Gunfire and blue pulses from Fallen weaponry. His Ward of Dawn surrounds him, and it takes all of his power to maintain it. Some rounds impact it, but they get absorbed.

Outside, there are settlers in space suits fighting the Fallen. They desperately bob and weave out of cover as the enemy encroaches, surrounding them. He reaches his hand out to one of them.

"Come into the Ward! It will protect you!" He tries to say, but his voice bounces from the walls of his Ward. They continue fighting as if he hadn't said anything.

No, no, no! He has to stop this! To protect them!

He tries to leave the construct of Light, but it blocks him. He can't escape. He tries shooting it, nothing. He tries punching, still nothing. It stands tall, insulting him and mocking him for being so powerful.

Damn his Light!

He lets out an anguished cry as he crumbles to his knees. "No…" he weakly says. He's trapped inside his own creation that's meant to protect others.

A man falls with a pained cry as a Vandal gores him from behind with its Arc spear.

"No!" There is a loud siren, originating from the Fallen Ketch in the distance. "Please, let me protect you! Take cover, please!" Saint tries to reach the other settlers, but they too don't hear him.

"Let me out! Damned purple dome!" He yells in anger as his fists find renewed purpose with the walls of his Ward.

The Fallen Spider Tank barks and a few fighters clumped together would die.

The artillery strike takes out the rest, leaving only him and his damned Ward of Dawn holding strong.

In the distance, the crackle of Arc.

Another Guardian would massacre the House of Rain. She would do what he couldn't.

He doesn't know if he should be grateful, or if he should have died with the expedition group.

/

_Nighttime…_

Saint wakes up with a shock, his breathing short and painful. His artificial heart pounds against his armor, and it takes at least five minutes to relax it.

He groans in frustration, another nightmare of that damned expedition on Mercury. It serves as a daily reminder of what he's trying to stop. He can't bear the thought of seeing another person dying under his protection again.

His device vibrates.

Right, I have to get to Kuo Kuana, he thinks.

Saint stands up and summons Perfect Paradox onto his back. His steps exiting the camp are tense and fast. It takes a few minutes to reach the streets of Kuo Kuana.

He keeps his eyes peeled, and walks down the big sandstone paths that connect the village. Sometimes, his mind wanders to the big and presumably fluffy palm trees that surround him. The urge to stop and touch them has to be suppressed more than once.

Focus…Ilia might need my help, he thinks.

He hears some giggling between two houses and goes over to check it, just in case. A few teenagers grouped up and having fun, it seems. What they are doing is unknown but presumably of no major concern. The only thing that's obvious is that they are having fun. They all stop once one notices him and then stare all together.

Better to leave them be, no point in yelling at them this late in the night, it would do more bad than good.

Saint is appreciative that children here can do such things without fearing for their lives. He personally doesn't care about what they do, as long as it doesn't hurt anyone.

He remembers Osiris ranting about how they have the attention-span of pigeons. He also remembers scolding his friend for insulting pigeons like that. The memory makes him smile.

He walks past the group, pretending not to notice and stretches his fingers.

A ping from Ilia. A red outline in the trees around the Belladonna household appears on his HUD.

Need help! the message reads. A sigh escapes his lips and he starts jogging, following the silhouette of his partner.

/

_A few minutes earlier._

If Blake could vocalize how angry she is at Sun right now, her parents would have disowned her for such language. Her hand balled into a tight fist, she glares at the blonde-haired monkey-Faunus. She doesn't want any of this! She doesn't want to take the fight back home, why can't he understand that?

"Your mom said White Fang members don't wear masks in Menagerie, but I saw one at the market yesterday, with that huge guy in the mohawk helmet!" He takes out his Scroll. "I even got a picture!"

"Sun-"

"Look, I'm trying to help-"

"I don't want your help!" Blake slaps the device out of his hands, into the trees that surround her family's home. They then both glare at each other with gritted teeth.

There is a thump in the distance. The two of them look at the source of the suspicious sound and are able to make out a dark silhouette inside the palm trees. Blake can see the white mask that covers the top half of the spy's face. She gasps, and then they react by jumping away.

"A freaking ninja-"

"A spy!" Blake says as she chases after them. She hears Sun say something to her mother before also pursuing.

Her chase takes her into the thick palm trees of Menagerie, the ones that take up most of the free space on Kuo Kuana. She navigates them expertly, keeping track of the spy who also seems to also on the same level. She feels like a child again, jumping through trees in a game of tag, or something childish like that.

Sun comes from above and fails to grab a hold of the spy, instead of landing on a branch, his fall cushioned by leaves.

"Hey, wait up!" he says.

"Don't let her out of your sight!"

The spy makes their way outside of the forestry, and into the main village. They run down the roofs of homes. They slide down a roof, then reemerge and hop onto the next, this one flatter. They slide under valve pipes and stand at the other side. The black silhouette disappears, revealing a woman underneath it.

She raises her long and pointy weapon that looks like a whip, but most likely also a gun. She hesitates, and slashes at the pipes, letting out steam that blinds Blake for a moment, but it fades away.

"Why are you watching me?" Blake demands. The spy grits their teeth and turns to Sun.

"Give it up! I'm not above hitting a girl you know-woah!" The whip extends and nearly hits Sun.

"I won't allow anyone to be hit!" A heavily accented voice says from behind Blake, and she hears the clacking of boots behind her. She turns around. It's that Saint-14 guy from earlier. "Please, I don't want to hurt any of you."

"Then tell your friend to stop spying on us!" She rushes the spy, who has her Scroll in her hand.

"Ilia, we have to leave, this isn't a good fight to start," Saint says.

Ilia? Blake hesitates and as a result, gets kicked on her stomach. Sun tackles the woman and holds her down. The Scroll in her hand drops and the device tumbles away to the edge of the roof.

Saint still hasn't done anything so far. Blake shoots a quick look behind her before going after the dropped Scroll.

"Grab the Scroll!" Sun says. "Seems someone thinks it's important-" he gets headbutted and gets thrown off of the woman's body.

Saint snarls and throws a purple grenade to his feet. The monkey-Faunus backs away but seems to have been caught in the blast radius.

Blake goes after the scroll, and the spy rushes her with a look that screams murder. Her mask is also cracked, revealing half of her face.

"Ilia, stop!" Saint steps between them and puts his arm up to stop her.

"What are you doing!?" She says. "Get off!" She pushes his hand down and hops over. The rest of her mask crumbles, revealing her full visage. She raises her weapon in its gun form.

"Ilia." Blake grimaces and steps forward aggressively.

"You…shouldn't have come back," Ilia replies, her skin changing to green, and her hair blue. It quickly switches to red and beige. She lashes out at Sun, striking him in the chest and creating a red hole in his chest. He tumbles to the floor with a pained cry.

"Ilia!" Saint cries out, his voice fluctuating in anger. "We are leaving, no one else gets hurt!"

Ilia snarls and slashes at the ground, forming a massive cloud of dust, and a second later, the two of them are gone.

Blake rushes to Sun's body.

"Sun! Oh no, no!"

/

Such senseless violence! What was Ilia thinking!? Saint thinks as he walks with Ilia in tow. To say that he is angry with her is an understatement. He understands what's troubling her but he didn't know that she would take it out on fellow Faunus.

"Why did you stop me?" She asks, sounding angry. "She had my Scroll!"

"So? You were going to harm her," Saint replies, as calmly as possible. He hates this type of violence, it's unnecessary and only creates more violence. "She has the right to know that you've been spying on her."

She snarls and punches the plate of armor over his stomach, not making an impact. "She wasn't supposed to come back!"

"This is a home for all Faunus, is it not?"

"Listen to me, Saint! She betrayed the White Fang by abandoning us to go study at Beacon!" She takes a moment to breathe. "You don't know the conflict between us, and you have no right to interfere!"

"Except I do," he crosses his arms and stops walking. "I don't care about your politics. I am here to stop innocent people from getting hurt, and if we're not able to achieve that, then I might as well say goodbye."

"Saint, come on don't be like that!" Ilia grits her teeth and turns to Saint, glaring at him "She's not innocent!"

"What about the other you lashed out at?"

She stays quiet.

"Ilia, answer the question."

"…He was cooperating," she replies, her voice wavering and low. "I had to send a message!"

"That's a coward's move. Eliksni strategy." His hand tightens at the mention of the Fallen.

"What, is that how things work with you!? Can't get your hands dirty!?" Ilia is practically taunting him right now, or it feels like she is. "You and I both know that this is necessary!"

Saint turns away from her and shuts his eyes, sighing.

"Do you take me as a coward, because I don't want to hurt an innocent person?" He says, lowly, his own rage boiling. "Are you fighting for Faunus' rights or trying to control them?"

There is a pause and a spike of tension in the air.

"Well?" He scoffs. "Ilia, I have killed enough things to end a war, you aren't one to lecture me about getting hands dirty." He stops for a second, to think of what he says next. "I have decimated entire armies by myself, and don't think for one second that you are immune to it."

"But-"

"Enough!" He swipes his hand horizontally while snapping his body to Ilia's direction. "Go back to camp, please. I need time to think."

She looks like she wants to retort, but only exhales through her nose. "Alright."

Saint-14 doesn't hurt friends. He tries to remember a word that has slipped his mind, but it describes what Ilia is attempting in Menagerie.

Ah yes. A _coup_.

* * *

**I don't think Guardians have ever really dealt with personal betrayal before, so this would be a bit interesting to write. Also, I don't think Saint-14 would meet the full RWBY cast until maybe end of Season 5, since I don't think it would be believable for him to leave Menagerie until then.**

**Edit: Fixed grammar, added some dialogue at the end.**

**Edit 2: Tried using Hemingway and Grammarly to reduce the long-winded sentences, let me know how it works out!.**


	4. Suspicions

**I did some updating to the first three chapters, mainly just fixed egregious errors to me and incorporated a bit of feedback. No major changes were made, so you don't need to go back and re-read.**

**Also, new Corridor of Time mission, and just as I expected, I was completely wrong on how we would (at least attempt to) save Saint-14, so I hope that doesn't bother you all too much.**

**Before anyone asks, no, Anna is not a love-interest.**

* * *

Saint stomps down the quiet roads of Kuo Kuana, grumbling to himself about his screaming match with Ilia. The lavender light that runs down the center of his helm glows brighter, in sync with his emotions. His hands are in a constant state of tension as he desires to punch something, and hard. The tree to his right looks to be a perfect contender, and he starts to channel his anger to it.

He is about to throw a punch at it when he turns his attention to rapid footsteps from behind.

"Saint!" Anna's voice reaches his ears, and he lowers his arm. He sighs and closes his eyes for a few seconds. "I heard about what happened with Ilia, are you alright?"

He chortles. "You should be asking her, not me." He looks at his clenched hand and manages to loosen it. "She's angry, I presume?"

"Yeah, what you did and what you said ticked her off," Anna says, rolling her eyes. "She has a bit of a temper."

"I have dealt with…fanatics like her." Saint rolls his shoulders, humming once. "I hope she can understand me."

"Anyways, what are you doing here?" He asks, crossing his arms. "Do you need more help with your forge?"

"No, I wanted to check on you, make sure you didn't go on a…violent outburst."

Saint laughs at the answer. "Should have checked with Ilia first," he snarks, smirking to himself.

Anna has a small smile, that is barely visible when overshadowed by her half-mask. "That was terrible and you know it."

"I know it was, but I suppose it is better than hurting-"

"Help! Someone!" A higher-pitched voice cries out. A child's, maybe a developing teenager. Definitely male, though. "Hey! Can you help us!?"

Saint turns and kneels to the Faunus child, who is as tall as his waist and has dog ears sprouting from the top of his head. His specific details are obscured by the darkness, but the fear on his face is clear.

"What's wrong?" Saint asks, putting a firm hand on the boy's shoulder, applying enough pressure to still him.

"My-my friend, he's trapped in the forest!" They cry out, breathing rapidly between words. "It's some dead robot thing, we can't get him out!"

"Come on, let's go!"

"I'll ping the location to your Scroll, I gotta tell someone!"

"Didn't you just tell me?" Saint asks, incredulously. The child runs off. "Where are you going!?"

"To tell someone official!" He screams out in reply as he makes his way to a wooden post with a box nailed onto it.

He rolls his eyes and turns to Anna.

"Let's go," he says. "Do you have a weapon?"

"No, I didn't bring one, I'll go with the kid, you go on ahead-"

"You are coming with me!" The Valakadyn materializes in Saint's hand. "Take this!" He tosses it to her.

"How did you do that!?" Anna looks at the VEIST rifle in shock.

"I can explain later," Saint replies before setting off in a sprint to the location marked on his HUD.

"Hey, wait up!" He hears her say from a distance behind him.

The Perfect Paradox finds itself in his hands as he rushes to the direction of the trapped child. He runs into another running the opposite way, managing to grab them by the collar before they can get past him.

"Are you with the group that went into the forest?" He asks, almost calm as his eyes meet their fear-filled ones.

"Yeah! There are Grimm coming! Jaina said she would hold them off while we would-"

"And you LEFT her with them!?" He bellows.

"What else could I do!?" He can come up with at least one thing she could have done. Saint groans, then lets the juvenile go.

"Find help!" He cries out, watching them run and get smaller in the distance. He has never seen such cowardice from children, let alone teenagers! It should only be a few wolves, no? He shakes his head and pushes the thought out.

There is a child that is in danger, and he has to go save them, no use in complaining about who he's rescuing. The white diamond marker on his HUD points to a roughed-up path inside the forestry. He nearly trips over an outgrown root as he follows it. In the distance, there is faint gunfire, and he doesn't know if it's the gun that is weak or if he's still far away.

_I have to move!_ He thinks as he barrels through the shrubbery, a few branches catching into the nooks in his armor. He turns, slides underneath a raised root, one that would not be compliant if he barrels through it.

Past a few trees, he can make out a few cracks of light, accompanied by small arms fire. A single source, meaning there's only one person fighting.

"Get the fuck away from us!" Two more bursts from a pistol. "Fucking Grimm!"

A wolf leaps at Saint from the side, and he smacks it with the butt of Perfect Paradox, knocking it down. His footsteps onto its belly, holding it still before he puts one shell into his snout. His foot collides with the ground when it turns into mist. He looks forward and notices another towering behind the armed teenager.

"Child!" He bellows, raising his weapon above the young girl's head. "Duck!"

She throws herself to the ground as a wolf leaps up, its teeth bared and its claws out. Saint doesn't hesitate to pull the trigger. "Eat this, beast!" He roars. The wolf flies backward into a tree from the impact and disappears into nothing.

A howl in the distance. More of them on their way. He has a few seconds of respite, though.

Saint makes his way to the trapped child.

"O-Oh god, I can't feel my legs!" He hears them say while struggling underneath the disk head of a Vex Goblin.

His artificial breath hitches. He pushes his arms out to the sides and clenches his eyes shut. His Light sings true as a purple Ward of Dawn envelops him, and everything in a few meters radius.

"Come on! Help me!" Saint doesn't need help lifting, but it's for the child to feel like they contributed. He grabs the Goblin and effortlessly throws it aside like a Fallen Dreg. "There we go! Can you walk?"

They shake their head. He fishes for the small pistol Anna gave him earlier. "Here, it has twelve rounds, use them well."

"I-I don't know how to-"

"No time for excuses, fight!" Saint turns away and scoops the Vex corpse up. He uses it as a bat to take down three of the dark wolves, tossing them aside with his swing. He looks at the still-on-the-floor teenager struggling to move their legs. "Ignore what I said, stay here!"

He steps outside of the Ward and readies his shotgun, pointing it towards the source of the howling. There are little pitter-patters that circle him. A volley of rounds from an assault rifle comes from beside him.

"Anna! You made it!" He has a slight smile on his face at the sight of the White Fang member with the Valakadyn. "Use the Ward to empower yourself!"

Anna looks at the purple dome, shrugs then runs inside. Saint looks for the other child that he saw, the one that was fighting. He finds them pressed against a tree, looking horrified at their pistol.

"You, do you still have bullets? We have to fight until help arrives." Saint walks up to her, standing a few feet in front. She shakes her head. "Go inside the Ward. It will protect you, but get ready to fight."

There is a stomping that shakes the ground.

"Oh no," Anna says, now beside him. "That sounds like an Ursa...Major."

"Finally, an interesting foe!" Saint slams his fist into his palm and rolls his neck, grinning. "I was getting tired of the wolves."

"Beowolves," Anna corrects. "They're called Beowolves."

"Good to know," Saint says. "Now about this Ursa…major."

Before Anna gets a chance to speak, a massive black bear breaks through the jungle forestry. It sports a bone mask, with visible red patterns coursing through it, meeting at the center of its head in a circle. Its orange and red eyes are perpetually glaring and its sharp fangs bared. Along its back are various rock-like spikes, with smaller ones all over its legs. It roars with all its might into the air, shaking the ground around it.

Saint-14 doesn't falter as he stands tall against the foe.

"Be ready to provide covering fire," he mumbles as he summons his Sentinel Shield. He waits for a second, to assess its movement before he charges with a battle cry, his shield facing it. His feet push off of the ground and his body puts all its weight into the shield as he bashes its face mask.

He hears a resounding _crack!_ as he makes contact before being pushed off. He catches himself on his feet, and his boots dig into the dirt a bit. The Ursa roars and swipes at him with its front leg but he deflects the attack without much effort. It backs up, growling and its eyes of pure malice scan him.

"Smart one, are you?" Saint says, before throwing his shield, aiming for the crack he made with his opening charge. It hits, sending the Ursa further back. It roars at him once more, making the surrounding trees quake before it jumps up to lunge.

If it follows its current trajectory it will land on everyone!

Saint backs up and summons another Ward of Dawn overtop Anna and the two teenagers. He gasps as it takes considerable strength to support himself underneath the black bear.

"Run," is all he says to them. "Anna, carry the boy, GO!"

She quickly nods. "Come on, come on let's go, before it crushes us!" She ushers them while helping the other by carrying them underneath their shoulder. Once they're out, Saint rolls away and lets the Ward disappear, making the Ursa fall down.

A black blur zips by above him, and then a thick black ribbon wraps around its neck. A woman wearing a white jacket appears on top of its back, standing between its spikes. She holds the beast's head using the ribbon that strains underneath the tension.

"Hurry up and kill it!" she screams, snarling as it struggles to throw her off, and nearly falling off.

"Hold it still!" Saint says as he walks in front of the bear, dropping Perfect Paradox. His hands grab the two lower spikes at the edges of its mask.

He puts his Light together into his head and throws it forward, his helm making the first contact. He hears a resounding crunch of bone, but it's still alive, as assessed from its pained screech.

He goes for another.

And another.

And another.

With each successive headbutt, he roars louder and strikes harder than the previous.

By the time he feels he's done enough damage, its face is already a mass of dark flesh. It too whisks away into black, evil steam that eventually dissolves in the air.

Saint is panting by the time he is done.

"I feel so alive!" He says to himself, and feels his helmet for another dent, but doesn't find anything. He looks around, to find the person that held the monster down. He locates her standing behind him, her arms crossed. She is staring suspiciously at him.

"Blake!" He hears the very remarkable voice of Ghira Belladonna, the giant Faunus who is the mayor of Kuo Kuana. The man emerges from between trees. "Are you alright!?"

"Dad, I'm fine." The woman holds Ghira back from wrapping her in a bear hug. "You should ask him, though. His head went through a lot."

Ghira turns to Saint, confused. "Saint? Did you kill the Ursa?"

"I broke it with my head." Saint scoops his shotgun back up and slides it over his back. "These things are not worth the ammunition."

Ghira looks to Blake. "Do you know him?"

"No, but I recognize him as the person who cooperated with my attacker."

He takes a more angered look. "What?"

Saint backs up one step, and one hand reaches for Perfect Paradox. Perhaps he won't be done with it today. "I didn't hurt anyone."

"And you'd be right, but you let my friend get hurt. He's injured, and might die." Blake scowls and she tilts her head forward, anger flaring on her face.

"I can't control Ilia," Saint argues back. "Look, I'm not here to hurt anyone, we should discuss this at a more suitable location."

"I know what the White Fang are planning, and I'm not going to allow it!" She cries out to him, drawing her own weapon and pointing the blade at him.

"Blake!" Her father says. "Now is not the time to be starting a fight!"

Saint takes a liking to the man after hearing him. "Listen to your father, I don't want to hurt you, nor did I want your blonde-haired friend to get injured."

"Blake, darling, please put away your weapon, and we can talk like rational people," Ghira holds his hand on her shoulder. She tenses and snarls but eventually holsters her sword.

"Fine. I'll meet him back at the house."

Saint nods then turns around. "I will be there, I just need a moment." He kneels next to the Vex Goblin's long-dead corpse examining it with a skilled photoreceptor.

Ghira shrugs, and hums. A whoosh of air. "Well, alright." There is an awkward silence. "What are you looking at?" He asks, looking over the Titan's shoulder.

"This is a Vex," Saint says. "A machine that's supposed to be part of an army." He punches its empty core, where the Radiolaria is supposed to be. His fist only pierces through the hard glass and shatters it. He grunts. "It's odd that this one is separated unless there are more around. Then there would be a big problem."

"What do you mean by that? These are corpses, already dead centuries ago," Ghira says, crouching down next to him. He feels the metal frame of the machine with his fingers.

"How do you know it has been centuries?" Saint asks, looking to Ghira.

"Look at it, it's rusted and being reclaimed by nature. I'm sure those kids were digging it up and it just fell." Ghira stands up and gives the Goblin a light kick.

"That is true, but if there is a corpse, then there must be more."

. . .

When Saint-14 returns to Kuo Kuana, he receives a hero's welcome. Easily dozens of Faunus are crowd around the entrance to the jungle. Ghira's wife, Kali is closest to the entrance, her hands clasped together with a nervous expression on her face.

When the two emerge, they all cheer.

"I heard there was an Ursa! Did it die?" Saint hears one yell.

"Did the guy in the helmet headbutt an Ursa to death?" Another screams.

"How many Grimm did they have to fight off?"

Questions like that continue to be thrown out without an answer. Ghira calms them all down with a single clear of his throat. Once it's all quiet, he begins speaking.

"There has been an incursion with the Grimm, including an Ursa Major," he says with a calm and controlled voice. He looks to Saint, then back to the audience. "And I am happy to announce that there had been no further injuries thanks to the quick work by this Huntsman here, Saint-Fourteen." He gestures with an open palm to him.

Saint smiles underneath his helm and chortles. "Please, I don't deserve such flattery, it's my job as a…Huntsman."

There's a roaring cheer. "Did you headbutt the Ursa!?" Someone in the crowd asks, and they all go silent in response.

Saint pauses for a second. "There is no point in lying, yes, I did. Many times until it fell like the beast-"

The entire audience drowns his voice out. He manages to sneak away without anyone noticing.

He needs to talk to this Blake woman.

. . .

Once arrived at the front of the Belladonna household, he gets a ping from his device.

A message from a Blake Belladonna.

Open the door, it's unlocked. I'll meet you inside. Saint dismisses the message with a flicker of his photoreceptors. He pushes one door with surprising ease, considering its enormous size. A woman's head peeks out between the crack made.

"Get in," Blake whispers hurriedly, flicking her head inside. "Before anyone sees you."

Saint squeezes through the small crack, and the door shuts behind him. He turns around, crossing his arms as the Belladonna daughter lets out a breath. She regards him with a frown and furrowed eyebrows. She must be suspicious of him.

"Blake Belladonna, correct?" Saint asks. She nods curtly.

"Cut the crap, what are you doing in Menagerie?" She says, taking a small step forward. "I know you're not from around here. Did Adam bring you in?"

Saint hums. "I wasn't sent by anyone unless you count fate as a person." He tilts his head down slightly, so he can get eye contact with her. "The White Fang was my first contact here. I was walking a desert for miles, and only when I reached a jungle did I encounter Ilia."

"That must be near the camp the Scroll has saved," Blake says. "So, you're not working for Adam, right? Did Sienna send you?"

"…Who?"

"That must mean she didn't…are you even affiliated with the White Fang?" Saint can't tell if she's talking to herself or asking him a question. He stays silent. "Answer the question."

"My current affiliation is…confusing. I support the Fang's cause but…"

"You don't like their way?" Blake crosses her arms and smirks. "Guess that's something we can agree on."

"Indeed." He feels weird saying that. "From our skirmish hours ago, you know Ilia?"

Blake sighs. "Yes, we go pretty far back, back when I was still in the White Fang."

"You were in the White Fang?"

She begrudgingly nods. "I regret it."

"Path to change doesn't come without regrets," Saint muses. "What happened?"

"It was Adam that changed. I didn't like it, so I left for Beacon."

Beacon…where did that word come from? He takes a moment to remember. "The school? The one that was attacked?"

Blake's fist tightens. "Yeah, I lost friends there, and it's all my fault."

"I doubt it, but go on." Saint kneels down to her level and notices that she's producing tears that fall onto the floor in pairs. "Perhaps we should change the subject?"

"Yeah, I think that'd…that'd be good." She shakily nods and wipes her face. She takes a deep breath.

"So, the White Fang, I take it you are resentful of them?"

"I'm angry at Adam if that's what you mean, and he wants to take over, so he can wage war against humanity."

The air changes around Saint-14. "What?" He asks, gravely.

"Yeah, it's true. I haven't discovered yet if the chapter here supports him, but I'll find out soon." She gulps.

He takes a moment to think. "I will leave, keep me informed."

He doesn't return to camp that night.

/

Ilia Amitola observes Saint-14 walking down a street, being completely swamped by people.

He headbutted an Ursa? She wonders how true the statement is, and takes out her Scroll, a new one because she lost her original last night. She intends to find an answer from the man himself.

She taps a few times on the device and sends a message to Saint. A few seconds pass and he turns his head towards her. She doesn't know if she's being crazy but it feels like he's glaring at her under his mask.

Her Scroll vibrates. She picks it up and reads the notification.

Meet me here. The screen displays a set of coordinates corresponding to a rooftop a few houses away.

Her feet and arms are quick and she's quickly at the set location. Her ears pick up on a pshh as the air behind her is pushed by what sounds like a steam engine. A set of footfalls and she turns around.

"Saint," her face remains neutral. "You weren't at camp last night."

"I know," he says gruffly. "I was busy with something."

"Headbutting Ursa?" One side of her mouth curls upwards, and she snorts. "Saving teenagers? Being a hero?"

He takes an aggressive stance. "Do we have an issue?"

Ilia puts her hands in front of her, palms facing him. "I just want to talk." It's surprisingly hard to push out the lie, but she feels her acting is convincing enough to fool him.

Saint crosses his arms. "Yes, I killed a bear yesterday by headbutting it."

"I like it." She pauses for an uncomfortable amount of time, to her at least. "So…about the Scroll."

"What about it?"

"I just want to know where you stand in all of this." She takes her own stance and her hand inches to her weapon. "I want to know if I can trust you."

"Ilia." She sees a shred of that cursed purple shield materialize on his forearm. "I don't wish to harm anyone. I told you this already."

"You did say that," she mumbles. "Are you with the White Fang or not?"

"I'm with you, Ilia. White Fang…I have my reservations," he says, and the purple disappears. "I protect people, and if the Fang plans on hurting anyone, then I will fight them."

She has heard enough.

"So you're a sympathizer?"

"If you mean that I sympathize with everyone, then yes." His shotgun appears on his back, its stock protruding past his shoulder. "It's my job as a Titan to protect the people."

"I've heard enough." She closes her eyes. "You're just like the rest of them."

"So I am." He pauses. "Go, leave while you have the chance."

She turns and leaps to the edge of the roof. "You'll regret this when we take Kuo Kuana."

"I am not afraid to defend this beautiful village, and if it means killing every White Fang member, then so be it."

The seriousness in his voice makes her skin chill, and she departs.

* * *

**Woo, can't wait to write the rest of this. Just finished season 6 and I have so many ideas right now.**

**Edit: Went over this one. If anyone wants to beta-read that'd be great.**


	5. A Vexing Development

When Saint-14 sees the chameleon-Faunus departs, he sighs and looks to the floor. He had hoped that she would change her mind, but he understands why she didn't. He shakes his head and watches as the silhouette that is Ilia disappear behind a maze of rooftops.

His radar lights up. It's a small blip, but it leads back to the forest where he discovered the Vex Goblin. His artificial stomach churns at the possibilities of what the red outline could be. Another Goblin? A Minotaur? A Hydra? He doesn't know, and he needs to find out.

The Titan jumps off of the roof, softening his fall using his Lift, and lands with surprising grace. It's surprising for someone his size. People start to swamp him, but he brushes them off, repeating the words "not now" every time. The number of people that want to talk slow him down and it takes a certain care for him not to push past someone too hard.

Once broken through the crowds, he heads for the red mark on his HUD, going back into the jungle that he is now known for. There is a roughly made sign in front of the trail with the inscription "Saint-14's Head Trail."

He doesn't understand what it means, but he can deduce that it's concerning what happened last night. He steps into the jungle, passing through the familiar shrubbery that leads to the clearing where he found the Vex. The red silhouette grows bigger and takes a more defined shape that reveals itself to be a half-buried Hydra. Its single red eye is flickering on and off while it makes a high-pitched whine. It vibrates in a vain attempt to free itself, to no success. The shields that would float around it are gone, it's too weak to produce them. The machine is covered in foliage and…moon rocks? A few pebbles roll down its frame, the greyish-white contrasting with the grassy green.

Saint rips away a bit of the growth on top of its red eye, revealing a ring-like attachment on its head. His database on Vex collectives pulls out one he doesn't recognize.

_Sol Divisive_. He reads that this type of Vex only serves to protect the Black Garden. What they are defending remains unidentified, but reported as anomalous. It is also described that Sol Divisive worship the entity. Saint first thought that it was the Light, but from further thinking, that couldn't be possible.

This is perplexing for Saint since he never saw the Vex worship something before. However, he had seen flashes of The Guardian entering the Black Garden and destroying a violent black growth. At the same time, she would dismantle defenders that tower over her threefold.

Saint stares at the Hydra's dying eye and closes his hand. He brings his arm up.

A single impact on his knuckles, a crack of glass, and the Hydra dies without a struggle. He rips the eye out. Something connects to it by a few wires. It is circular, with a red inner circle that has the same pattern as a Vex teleporter. His Exo systems link to it in an instant, and a new waypoint adds itself into his very small map of the planet.

It's a dot that is far beyond his current map, but a few seconds later an update cycle initiates inside his firmware. His vision goes black and then returns to him after less than a second.

The map reopens itself, now showing the continents and kingdoms of the planet with well-defined borders. There are a few options to bring up information about the wildlife that live in any area.

The island of Menagerie is quite far from the mainland, the closest kingdom being up north, labeled "Mistral." The new waypoint is even farther up, sitting on a white-colored settlement called "Atlas." The tag "UNDYING" sits next to it, whatever that is supposed to mean.

"So I'm not on Earth…" he mutters, tapping his fingers on the dirt. "I wonder if Atlas is like the Cosmodrome."

Saint takes a moment to analyze his discoveries, before closing the map and turning back. He starts walking back to Kuo Kuana.

If the Vex is present on this world, then his fists have quite a bit of work to do on this planet. He turns to the dead Hydra one last time, and it serves as a reminder of what true Darkness is.

. . .

A message from Blake Belladonna comes through.

_Meet me at the house, we're gonna discuss our next move._ Saint sighs. Already? Her friend needs time to recover, doesn't he? Ilia had stabbed him hard. Besides, all there is to do is burn down the White Fang camp in the jungles, and they would scatter like the Fallen.

However, being Titan Vanguard, he does have a mind for politics and knows that the people wouldn't accept a massacre based on mere suspicions. There would definitely be a negative reaction against the Belladonnas. The cascading effect would be disastrous for everyone involved.

He shakes the possibility out of his head. He won't let that happen, no matter how hard Ilia wants it to. It's hard for him to think about killing the White Fang agent, as she's only protecting what she holds dear. The organization is her family it seems, and Saint isn't sure if she's forced to stay or she is willingly doing so. He hopes that it's the former and that he and the Belladonnas would be able to break her out in the future.

He curls his fingers into his palm, and a pulse of Light passes through it. His metal lips form a small smile.

That's what his powers are for: To defend the defenseless. It was obvious to him, but unfortunately not for the Warlords and other rogue Risen during the Dark Age. He vowed to stand taller, and he would hold true to his promise here, even if he isn't on the same planet or solar system.

In a way, the Fang isn't wrong in what they seek to achieve. It's clear, from Ilia's and Blake's explanations that they use fear to achieve their goals. They are not wrong in that it _works_, but at what cost? Lives? He won't allow it.

Saint-14 doesn't want to kill off the White Fang, as what they stand for is noble, reminding him of the struggles Exos had to endure. This whole situation is ironic to him, now he is suppressing the equal rights movement.

He shouldn't think that way, it's too…black-and-white, too simplistic. He's not a Warlock, he stands with people, not numbers. What about those that turned to the organization because they had nothing left? Because they were wronged and wanted vengeance? They aren't anymore criminal than a civilian. It will come down to their next actions in the coming days that will determine if they are in the realms of morality.

Saint hopes that Ilia was bluffing when she talked about the White Fang taking over Kuo Kuana. He doesn't want to hurt her, for fear of unintentionally killing.

His train of thought is broken as he bumps into the Belladonna household's front door. He blinks a few times and looks all around.

"That walk was…surprisingly short," he mumbles, before raising one arm and sending two hard knocks. He backs up one step. His hand pushes grime off of his knees and hands. A few seconds of silence, followed by thumping footsteps from inside. Ghira opens the door for him.

"Saint, my daughter wanted you to join us," he says. "Come in." He gestures inside the building with his hand.

"Of course," Saint says, taking a step inside the house, and taking the time to admire the entrance hall. His boots make the wood flex and leave prints on the carpet. "She has informed me about the problems arising inside the White Fang." He follows Ghira further in.

"The Scroll she procured has provided enormous amounts of information on the actions of Adam Taurus." Ghira slides open a door, leading to a balcony, giving a nice view of the fluffy palm trees. Saint wants to take a moment to admire, but his guide steps over a fallen sliding door that fell into a room. He follows to not be rude and wonders what could have happened for that to occur.

A pigeon lands on his shoulder. His hands gently grab onto it and he brings the bird against his chest, petting it on the head.

Inside the new room, he takes notice of the walls of bookshelves and the plants hanging from the ceiling. He walks past a malachite colored pillar, making eye contact with Blake. She is standing in front of a couch, her arms crossed. On the couch is a blonde man wearing a light jacket over his bare chest, staring at him with suspicion.

"You brought that psycho in here!?" The blonde says, looking dubiously to Blake.

"He's not with the White Fang," she says, giving him a small nod, one that he returns. "He's gonna help us."

"He was with that lizard girl last night!"

"Sun, he didn't want anyone to get hurt."

Saint clears his throat, and pets the pigeon one last time before setting it free outside. "I would have punched someone if I wanted them hurt. I didn't, though." He crosses his arms. "I understand the suspicion, blondie."

"I have a name, you know!" The shirtless man exclaims, standing up and grimacing. "Ow!" His hand presses against the stained bandage on his pectoral.

"Sun, sit down," Saint says as he closes the distance between him and Sun. "You're still hurt."

"I'm fine." Sun grimaces and groans through his teeth. He applies pressure on the bandage and winces. "I'm ready to fight, just give me the okay."

Blake looks to Saint with a grave expression. "We've brought you here so we can plan our next move on the White Fang."

"You want me to destroy it? I am capable of that." Saint suggests, crossing his arms. She shakes her head.

"Not exactly. Dad, tell him what we know." She nods to her father, who exhales with a hint of regret. Ghira points to the Scroll on the wooden coffee table.

"Adam Taurus is planning to overthrow the leader of the White Fang, and lead a full-scale attack on Haven academy."

Saint's systems bring up the academy in question. It's a school that trains warriors in the kingdom of Mistral, led by a Professor Lionheart, who seems to be a lovely enough man judging from his pictures. A few images of the grounds appear and he takes a moment to admire its beautiful, open design. It reminds him of a few Golden Age universities that Osiris showed him through postcards quite a while back.

"Now that I think about it, the idea of destroying the Fang is enticing." Saint's thumb and forefinger rub the chin of his helmet.

"We're going to go one step further, actually," Blake smirks.

"Wipe them off the face of this planet?"

"We're taking it back."

"Ah, so eliminate every member and replace them with better ones? I like it."

"…Partially." She pinches the bridge of her nose and exhales.

"So we are dismantling leadership?"

"We'll get there when we get there!"

. . .

_Marketplace..._

Saint crouches down as he scans for his target. He overlooks the market, where various booths sell various items, ranging from food to deadly weapons. The person he's after is a Faunus male who's skin looks like it has rocks growing out of it, with his hair tied into a jagged ponytail. The photo he has of the man has him wearing an army-green cotton shirt.

Two green silhouettes walk within the crowds: Blake and Sun, they are looking on the ground. According to them, he is "too popular" and "too tall" to go undercover. He wanted to suggest that he could take off his armor, but revealing his true race this soon wouldn't have been the best idea, so he kept quiet.

His photoreceptors lock onto a person wearing the same colored-shirt as his target. He is playing around with a switchblade with a light-blue handle. The dealer behind the cart is a rabbit-Faunus, pretending to look interested so he can make a sale. Saint knows that face anywhere, having dealt with Häkke salesmen who were quite good at putting on a show to win Vanguard contracts.

"I have a visual on the target," Saint whispers as he leans in a tiny bit to get a closer view, his sensors zooming in. "Blake, do you have a match?"

Blake takes out her Scroll, checking it, then looks at Sun. "Gotcha," she says. They snake their way through the crowd, approaching the target. He is now making an exchange of currency for that blue switchblade he tried out earlier.

Saint changes position, running down the tops of a few houses. His gut is screaming at him that this is wrong and that he belonged down there with his fists colliding with that person's face.

"Watch out, he's armed," he says, Perfect Paradox materializing on his back.

Blake and Sun get closer, the former reaching for her blade. The target takes notice of them and draws a revolver, shooting as soon he can the barrel raises in her direction. Luckily, Blake deflects the bullet into the air with her sword. The target starts to sprint away.

He would shoot in a crowd like this!? Saint follows him from above, keeping a good bead on the target as he leverages his Lift to hop from building to building. The duo on the ground is chasing, gaining on him.

The target draws his brand-new blade and stops next to a car attached to a cart full of boxes. He jumps into the space between and severs the cord connecting the two.

"Damn it!" Saint mumbles to himself as he jumps down to ground level. He rushes to the now-free cart that is rolling down the elevated street, bound to hit someone. Blake and Sun stop as everyone surrounding starts gasping and screaming about the rogue and uncontrollable cart on wheels.

Saint lands in front of it and pushes it back shoulder-first. His boots grind against the road as the cart's weight surprises him, but he manages to get it to a near-stop. Two golden copies of Sun assist him, and the shirtless blond adds himself too.

"Come on, push!" Saint says as he summons his strength into his arms. Blake hitches her blade, now in a bent L-shape, into the boxes the cart is carrying, using it to swing herself forward. She disappears after turning a corner.

"I'm trying!" Sun replies, grunting afterward. "I can hold it still for a second, you hit it from the side!"

Saint nods. "Good thinking!" He exclaims, backing up and then going to the longer side of the cart, backing up a few steps. His shield materializes and he charges forward, bashing the contents of the cart. It tumbles sideways after the bash, blocking the entrance of a poor resident's home. The contents of the boxes spill out, clinking and thumping into the dirt.

Saint walks over the metal pieces and recognizes the head of a Vex Hobgoblin, horns and all. It's covered in moss and plant growth, like the other Vex he saw.

He steps back and stares at it in shock. A chill runs down his metal spine.

More Vex? He should have expected this, of course, there are more Vex!

"Saint? What are you doing!?" Sun runs up to him. "What are you looking at!? Our guy's getting away!"

"You go, I have questions that need answering," he replies, his voice a low rumble and distant. "Go!" He snaps at Sun.

The monkey-Faunus flinches and runs off.

Another person runs up to him.

"You knocked it over!?" They say, their tone indicating frustration. "They're never going to accept the parts like this!"

Saint is silent for a second, and he turns around, rising from his knee to a tall, straight stance. "Who are buying these parts?"

"I can't tell you tha-"

"Tell me, now." Saint steps closer to the merchant that seems to be selling Vex components. "I will not ask again." His voice is laced with rage.

"U-Uh, Atlas, it's Atlas…they've been paying for these…" the merchant looks to the floor and sounds nervous. "They're just parts."

Saint looks at the pile of Vex surrounding his feet. He lifts one foot and crushes a part, earning a satisfying metallic crunch.

"You will stop collecting such parts," he says, his voice firm and assertive.

"But-"

"Do I make myself clear, or will I have to destroy your equipment too?"

"Y-Yes, sir."

"These are parts of machines no one should be trying to understand," Saint mumbles to himself. "Take me to whoever picks these up."

"U-uh, sure." The man turns and starts heading to the road that should lead to the docks, and Saint follows.

Blake and Sun are walking in the opposite direction, looking dejected.

"Saint? Where are you going?" Blake asks, stopping him by tapping his shoulder. He lets the man get ahead while he turns to her. "Why are you following him?"

"Personal business, someone is buying Vex components, and I will not allow it," he says. "I have dealt with enough to know that trying to experiment with them will end badly."

Sun looks at Blake confused, who returns the same stare. "Vex? What are you talking about?"

"I will elaborate later, go back to the house, it's getting dark."

The duo head one direction, Saint heads the other. The man has already built a sizeable distance, but Saint closes the distance before he has the chance to turn a corner.

The civilian activity at the docks is currently dying down since the sun is setting. There is still one ship that has movement, in the form of robots carrying wooden boxes into it. A darker man with greenish-black hair in a white coat with red and blue accents is leaning against a wooden pole, tapping away at his Scroll. He looks up when Saint and the vendor approach them.

"Hey man, you got the last boxes?" The guard looks bored. "You don't. Where are they?" He pushes himself off the pole.

"I'm putting an end to this whole transaction, the parts are destroyed," Saint says, stepping forward. "Whoever, or whatever your leader is, they are dealing with technology way beyond their understanding."

The man snorts. "Marrow, by the way."

"Saint. Fourteen."

"You're not acting like one." Marrow smirks with smug confidence. "So, what brings you to think that interfering with Atlas shipments is a good idea?"

"These are Vex, they are not a simple toy to be tinkered with!" Saint glares at the man, who is a bit shorter than him. "You tell Atlas to stop, or else I take drastic measures."

Marrow takes a graver look and reaches for the rectangular weapon on his back. "Oh yeah, what are those measures?"

"I do not want to see a ship coming for Vex components at this dock ever again." If Saint could spit, he would have right now. "This is the last shipment."

The vendor has run away by now.

"Marrow, you starting fights or something? Why am I not included?" A woman with brown skin and platinum blonde and brown hair shaved at the sides approaches. She wears a sleeveless white vest, with a similar design to Marrow's. Her arms have an exoskeleton on them. "What does mohawk helmet want?"

The dog Faunus chuckles once. "Saint here destroyed our latest shipment of components."

The woman looks at him gravely. "Harriet Bree." She pauses for a second.

"Sir, is this true?" She asks, cordially and with a certain level of authority that doesn't bode well with Saint.

"Yes," he says, turning his head to her. "I have dealt with these machines personally."

"Really? You're the one who killed them hundreds of years ago?" A faint smile appears on her face. She exhales rapidly once.

"They can turn planets into computers, and their only goal is to wipe out everything but them. Please, dealing with these is not worth the trouble it will bring you."

The woman crosses her arms and laughs. A short, non-believing one. "You have to be kidding right now."

"I'm not," Saint is getting angry that she isn't taking him seriously. "You are getting yourself into deep shit, as my people would say it."

She scoffs, and rolls her eyes, then turns to her partner. "Come on, let's get out of here, no point in wasting our time with this fool." She stops for a moment and glances at Saint. "Look, you won! Now you're wanted for the destruction of Atlas property. Don't pop by anytime soon, oh wait, you can't, so consider yourself lucky."

"Oh, you only need to wait to arrest me and not waste the effort now," Saint snickers. "I will be coming to destroy the Undying Mind, very soon."

They both look at each other in the eyes and Marrow draws his weapon while Harriet charges her fists with yellow electricity.

"That's a top-secret Atlas program," she says, glaring at him. "The Kingdom of Atlas exercises its inter-kingdom rights and you are now hereby under arrest. Submit now or we will aggress."

Saint doesn't summon his shield yet, he's biding his time for the perfect moment. He suspects that the Harriet woman will attack first, as she looks primed to move.

"I'm not looking for a fight," he says. "However, if you so desire, then, by all means, take your chance." He brings his arms wide, taunting them.

"Oh, I will!" She charges at him with a speed he has never seen before, raising one arm as she charges her punch. Saint summons his Sentinel Shield and blocks the attack, before throwing a Suppression grenade to Marrow's feet.

"Stop!" Marrow yells out to him before the grenade detonates. Saint freezes for a second, leaving him wide open to another attack by Harriet. She takes the opportunity and uppercuts him straight in the chin, throwing him into the air. He quickly reorients himself and throws his shield down, forcing her to move.

"Harriet, my Semblance, it's…it's down!"

"What!?" Harriet snarls and rushes him once he's landed. "That's not possible!"

"Oh, but it is!" Saint throws another Suppression grenade at his feet. He absorbs her punch with his shield and hops back, so she can be in the blast radius of the detonation. It explodes, leaving her vulnerable as she realizes that Marrow wasn't lying. He sprints and bashes her with his shield, sending her flying to the edge of the dock.

"Leave, before I throw more grenades, and trust me, I love throwing grenades." He chuckles to himself. "I'm starting to sound like Shaxx."

* * *

**Might as well tie Season of the Undying into this**, **and if you're wondering if you ever threw enough grenades, then you didn't. Throw them all.**

**Suppression grenades can go fuck themselves though.**

**Edit: went through this one**


	6. A Warlock Displaced

**To the reviewer that's talking about the apples: **

**Maybe you are right. I don't know about apples and how to grow them.**

"_**Dialogue like this means talking through a mental link between a Ghost and its Guardian.**_"

* * *

Blake Belladonna slides open a door that leads to one of many balconies in her family's household. A guard stands to her right, standing tall and still with her spear pointed upwards.

"Good evening miss," the guard says, turning to Blake. "Can I get you anything?"

"Just a little time to myself, thanks," Blake replies with a casual inflection, a forced smile forming on her face.

The guard gives her a nod. "Sure thing, just call if you need anything." Then she walks inside the house, shutting the door behind her.

Blake sighs, and shuts her eyes for a moment.

"You need better security," Ilia's voice comes from above. Blake hears very faint and short footsteps on the rooftop, that lead towards the rail of the balcony.

Blake turns to see Ilia in her Grimm mask hopping down, quietly landing on the wooden rail. "Please, I-I just need to talk!" The chameleon-Faunus puts out one hand, palm facing outwards.

There is a moment of silence between the two as they simply stare at each other.

Blake breaks the silence. "How could you take the fall for them, Ilia?" She asks.

Ilia sighs. "Blake," she says, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Corsac and Fennec blamed you, we confronted them tonight and they deny knowing anything and everything we found on your Scroll, they talked about how disappointed they were to find out that you sided with Adam." Blake hates uttering the name of her former White Fang colleague. She now leans forward a bit, her eyebrows furrowed and her cat ears a bit bent at the tips. "But you and I both know they're guilty."

"You can't prove anything," Ilia says, frowning. Her ponytail flutters to the side in the non-existent wind, emulating the tail of a chameleon. She does pass well for a human, Blake admits.

"That Scroll might not have been enough to lock them up, but it's enough to sway the Faunus here, when we go public tomorrow, they're not going to stand for any of it." Blake pauses. "And neither should you."

Ilia gently takes off her mask, holding it softly in her hand. Her eyes peer at Blake with guilty sadness. "Your plan isn't going to work, Blake. Please, just leave Menagerie before it's too late."

"You're going to have to make me."

"…I know." Ilia pauses, looking underneath her to the ground below, seemingly contemplating jumping down. "We won't be stopped. You'll need all the help you can get."

"There are people willing to fight." Blake turns her head side-ways, giving Ilia a suspicious side-glance.

"Are you talking about Saint-Fourteen?" Ilia asks. "He doesn't belong here."

Blake doesn't know how to answer, and so she remains quiet.

"He's an external threat, probably sent by Atlas, he doesn't even have a pulse." Ilia soon jumps down, disappearing into the darkness of the jungle.

A shotgun blast in the distance pulls Blake's attention.

/

_Mercury, the Sundial_

"Osiris how are we looking over there?" The Guardian rolls her shoulders and cracks her neck by cocking her head to the side. She's about to effectuate another jump in time again, to search for Saint-14 again. It's a shot in an endless void, but Osiris had done some good work in narrowing the possibilities. He seemed to be confident that they would find him.

"He's too busy configuring it, but I think he's fine." Sagira's perky and upbeat voice never fails to make her smile. "Uh oh, we got some Red Legion coming in, we have to pull you out!"

"Really? Red Legion now?" The Guardian scowls and readies her Graviton Lance pulse rifle. The Mountaintop stays ready on her back.

"Looks like an entire division, get ready!" Her Ghost points out, and she is soon teleported out of the Corridors of Time, back into the grueling planet of Mercury.

Sure enough, there are a bunch of Cabal that are assaulting the Sundial. They pile up at the bottom of the steps that lead to it, clashing with Vex while some of the more elite units push forward.

The Guardian swaps out for the Mountaintop and jumps high up, shooting a single grenade that detonates on impact. She pushes the front half down and pops another grenade in. To finish loading, she snaps it back shut, now ready to fire another.

She lands on the ground and rolls into cover, throwing a knife to a Legionary's head and landing it between its eyes. A Colossus fires its Slug Launcher in her direction, forcing her to stay put so she doesn't get killed.

"Where's Osiris!?" She screams, her head ducking downwards as cluster missiles explode all around her. Looking up, all she sees is a giant flash of white.

"He should be nearby, inside the Sundial!" Her Ghost answers.

"You could have asked me, Guardian!" Osiris appears at the pile of crates across from her, his hands holding a Monte Carlo.

"He's using the Monte Carlo!" She giddily mumbles to herself. She gifted him the weapon a few weeks ago. "Right, now's not the time!" She reaches her arm into the air and summons her Light. A flaming hand cannon appears. She grins as it fires a molten bullet into the Colossus, burning its head off without much resistance.

Her free palm pulls the hammer back with lightning speed and she fires again. This time, she strikes a Vex Minotaur and turns it into ash.

"On top of you!" Her Ghost warns as she falls to her back, both hands holding the grip of her Golden Gun pointed to the sky. A Psion Flayer floats inside its bubble, its hands forming some sort of transparent energy.

The Guardian fires again, the bullet going straight into its crotch. The Flayer detonates in a blinding explosion that takes over her entire vision. It's a flash of white for a good ten seconds and an intense ringing, followed by an eerie silence. She blinks a few times, granting some time for her eyes to readjust.

The Flayer lays at her feet a corpse, and so does every Cabal nearby.

"Amazing, this Flayer was psionically linked to every Cabal unit here!" Her Ghost appears and does a wide-range scan.

"Ghost," the Guardian says, her throat and mouth dry.

"Killing it must have killed everything here!"

"Ghost," she repeats, looking at where Osiris was supposed to be. "Where's Osiris?"

Her Ghost looks around. "Uh oh."

A moment of silence, at least as silent as sand blowing in the wind can be. The Guardian blinks and throws the corpse of the Psion commander off of her body. Her hands start wiping her armor of the Cabal's viscous blood.

"…Osiris?" She calls out. No response. "You there? Did I lose you too?"

Again, no answer.

"I think we lost him," Ghost says, his voice petrified.

"I think we did, Ghost." The Guardian's lips flatten. "Guess we'll have to figure out how to use this thing for ourselves."

/

_Somewhere over Lake Matsu…_

Legendary Warlock Osiris is blinded by the flash of light the Psion Flayer emitted when it was shot between the legs by the Guardian's Golden Gun. His vision is still white for a few seconds but it regains detail, giving him a real image of his new situation.

"Who are you!?" A female voice that isn't Sagira's yells over the loud whistle of blowing wind. "And how did you even-what, nevermind, can you fight!?"

Osiris is still disoriented from the whole situation and has to shake his head. He then readjusts the scarf that covers the bottom half of his face.

"Yes, he can!" Sagira says. "Osiris, you okay?"

"I'm fine," he says, scooping up the Monte Carlo which now replaces his Garden Progeny 1. He keeps the scout rifle as a backup, though. He prefers how the auto rifle shoots, as simple as the reason is. "What are we dealing with?"

"Lancers!"

He nods and wants to ask a question, but a stinger about the size of half his body nearly gores him in the leg. The woman beside him deflected it into the hull of this vehicle. He's in a ship, that happens to be soaring in the air trying to escape giant black-and-white wasps.

"_**I'll pretend I understood what she said, and I suggest that you shoot them!**_" Sagira says, through her and Osiris' mental link. He crouches down and raises his auto rifle. His finger hovers over the trigger before he lets out a short torrent of bullets. The woman at his side fires white projectiles with...runes, coming from the tip of a rapier. "_**Are we just going to pretend that she isn't shooting things with a sword!****?**_"

"**_We will ask her about it later!_**" Osiris replies, now semi-annoyed. He puts down an Empowering Rift, for the both of them; she can stand in it if she wants to. "_**Bring me any information we have on this thing!**_"

"_**Funny story, we don't.**_"

"_**Huh, that's…odd.**_"

"_**Maybe you should worry about getting impaled by their rope-stingers!?**_"

Osiris rolls his eyes and lets out another volley of rounds from the Monte Carlo. His Solar Light burns within and he looks to the girl in the white skirt next to him.

"I see you're using a rune to keep yourself steady, can you make one to tether me to the ship?" He asks, looking to her. "I need an answer quick, girl."

"Yes, I can, but what are you planning to-" He tunes her out and twirls once, his arm reaching into the air. A burning sword forms into it, pulsing with Solar Light. His entire body bursts into flame and he instantly dashes out of the bay door. "Wh-slow down!"

He feels a force that keeps him from flying away. It's like a hunter's tether, but without the suppression effect. He hopes it's strong enough to not send him into one of the floating islands that are littered all about. He swings once, sending an arc of fire to one of the giant wasps, burning it away. He dashes to the side, avoiding a harpoon stinger. He then cuts it from its owner.

"_**Nice one!**_" Sagira comments. "**_To your left!_**" Another stinger comes at him but is reflected by a black rune. He looks to the gracious girl who provided it and nods. He decides that he will now dub the girl "princess."

Osiris swings a few more times and manages to strike down another three or so. The ship shakes violently, throwing him in disarray but he finds his footing in the air using bursts of fire.

"We're hooked!" Princess calls out to him, and he looks up to see a few wasps latched onto the ship. "I'm pulling you back!"

"What, I didn't-" He is removed from the air and thrown back into the ship, his body slamming flat against a wall. His breath is forcefully pushed from his lungs.

"Sorry," Princess says, offering him a hand. The ship pulls downwards and throws Osiris around like a rag-doll. He feels like he's slammed into every single corner in this relatively small cargo-bay. He grabs onto her hand mid-air, just in time before his face could plant itself into metal again. He shakes his head, his vision spinning in all directions.

"Are you alright?" Princess asks, kneeling to him. She looks concerned, a soft worry clear on her face.

"I'm fine," Osiris says, dusting off his shoulders and standing up. A rain of boulders come tumbling down behind the ship. The Lancers that are chasing them seem to disappear afterward. "Thanks. Are we clear?"

"I think." She looks out into the distance, then sighs. A vibration pulls both their attentions as an enormous Lancer rears its ugly head and body. "It's a Queen Lancer!"

"You did go for its flock," he replies, throwing a few globs of fire from his palm, that singes the beast's white parts. He isn't sure if it did any damage, though. "I should ask for your name."

"Weiss, and you will want to duck." Weiss spawns several white runes and the crates behind them start levitating. Osiris blinks behind them before they are all flung to the Queen Lancer. In the air, they simultaneously explode in a dust cloud that glows the entire spectrum of color at the edges.

"_**It's not done,**_" Sagira says.

"It's not done, brace yourself!" Osiris repeats. Weiss nods and breathes out once, a slow, deliberate action. She then closes her eyes. She twirls and swings her rapiers, reminiscent of old Golden Age ballerina performances. The Queen Lancer sends out an entire volley of stingers. One nearly hits him straight in the face, and he feels the ship shake. It must have hit an engine.

The Warlock has to blink a few times, just to register what he saw. The worst part is, she only did it to plant her blade into the ground.

"_**…That is so utterly pointless, but beautiful,**_" Osiris says, then almost gasps as a shimmering knight grows out of the floor. "_**Is this even possible with the Light?**_"

"**_Anything's possible, Osiris,_**" Sagira informs him. "_**She's just…practiced a lot, it seems.**_"

"Pull up, NOW!" Weiss screams.

"_**Oh, you have got to be-**_" Osiris uses his glide to readjust himself as the ship takes a steep turn up. The giant knight leaps out the back, wielding a massive sword. It uses runes to keep itself flying and to teleport around. It dashes in the air like a well-trained Dawnblade Warlock, mixed with expert blinking he has only seen from the likes of Ikora.

"_**Almost as good as you****!**_" Sagira snickers.

"_**Almost.**_"

Osiris looks to Weiss and holds a ball of Void Light in his hand. She sees it, and seems to understand his intention, nodding once with a confident smirk. He returns it to his body, stands tall. He nearly tumbles due to the turbulence but catches himself in time. He channels all the Light he can muster to unleash a massive Nova Bomb headed straight to the Queen Lancer.

He knows it's too slow to hit it, but the knight disappears. It reappears in front of it and uses the flat edge of the blade to carry the bomb. It dives straight into the Queen Lancer, carrying its attack with a ball of entropy in tow. A resounding explosion of Void Light mixed with whatever Weiss uses disintegrates the monster into nothing.

All is silent, except for the incessant screeching of the ship's alarm.

"You are aware that we are still going to crash, right?" Sagira appears floating above Osiris' shoulder.

"I am aware-wait a second-" Weiss is interrupted as the ship does crash.

/

_Menagerie_

Saint-14's boots grind against the ground as he blocks another one of the Bree woman's punches.

She would make a good Titan, he thinks nonchalantly before throwing his shield at Marrow. The dog-Faunus seems content with staying back and trying to use his "Semblance". He keeps getting suppressed by Suppression grenades, preventing him from doing so.

Saint throws another shield at a pole, making it bounce off. He jumps high into the air, supporting himself with his Lift. His Sentinel shield disappears, and his arms crackle with Arc.

"What, you give up? Already?" Harriet snarks as she launches upwards, straight into him.

"I'm just simply changing tactics," Saint says as he dives to her with his charged fist being the first point of contact. "Fighting fire with fire, as many would say."

The woman dodges to the left as he lands on the ground, making a sizeable crater that sparks with Arc energy inside. He turns around to face her, punching his charged fist into his palm.

"Marrow, leave him for me, I want to see this guy in action."

"But-"

"Understood?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Ghira steps between Saint and Harriet, the massive Faunus blocking the Titan's view of her. "There will be no more action happening tonight," he says. His voice sounds like he's on the verge of breaking into a full-blown rage. "Harriet, leave."

Harriet lowers her arms. "Sir, he is a fugitive to the kingdom of Atlas, and must be apprehended."

"Since when?" The Belladonna turns to Saint. "Have we been harboring a criminal all this time?"

"I destroyed a single shipment of Vex components, for everyone's safety."

"You destroyed Atlas property!" Marrow says, from a distance. He probably feels safe back there, out of range of any harm that could come to him.

"That happened to be dangerous." Saint exhales. "No one should be trying to experiment with these parts."

"What is he talking about?" Ghira turns to Harriet. "What parts? The manifest only states produce."

"Ah, shit," she says.

"Is there an illegal trade going on between Atlas and Menagerie?" The massive man puts one step forward to the Atlas operative and broadens his shoulders.

"Come on, let's go." Harriet looks to Marrow and starts stepping towards their ship.

Ghira looks primed to pounce. "I will allow you two to leave, but tell Ironwood that his embargo applies to us now." He sighs as the marine vehicle closes up and departs. He turns to Saint. "Sorry about that, we've had a whole…deal going on that they would continue trade. I should have known the general wanted something other than food." He snarls in frustration. "Sorry for doubting you in the first place, I assume these are the Vex you mentioned before?"

Saint nods. "Yes, that is correct."

Ghira shrugs his shoulders. "I don't know what their parts could be used for. I'll let you handle them, I have other things to worry about."

Saint grunts. "White Fang, I assume?"

"Yes, their progression towards senseless violence is…remarkable. I never thought that Adam would get much traction. It seems that I was wrong." Ghira says, a tinge of regret. "I will address the whole situation in the day, go get some rest."

"Likewise." Saint nods and watches as the mayor of Kuo Kuana leave him alone.

After a few minutes, someone lands on their feet behind him. He snaps to the source of the sound, his Perfect Paradox already drawn. In front of the barrel is Ilia, who has her helmet on and her hands raised. He sighs. "Ilia."

"Saint," she says.

"Do you have to follow me around all the time?" He asks, lowering his shotgun and sighing in exasperation.

"Do you have to start shit with Atlas?" She sneers.

"I start shit with anyone I want, Ilia." He crosses his arms. "What do you want?"

"Just wanted to talk." She smirks.

"You're acting as if we're friends,"

"I am, and I don't know why, frankly." Her hand stays at her hip, suspiciously close to the compact whip on her waist. "I don't want to kill anyone innocent."

"Oh please, don't start with this again." Saint sends a pulse of Arc Light through his arm, letting her see the energy course throughout. "You are a driven woman, Ilia. I don't want to see it wasted on cowardice such as the White Fang."

He pauses. "I respect you."

She chuckles. "That's good to know, Saint, good to know that we're on an equal playing field."

"What are you trying to get at?" Saint asks. "I know you didn't come here just to talk."

"I'm wondering if you had a sudden change of heart, now that you're attacking Atlas operatives," Ilia says. "You do know that they're the ones that are responsible for our mistreatment? Their Dust companies treat us as slaves, and at one point hunted Faunus for sport."

"Then I have an issue with Atlas, too." Saint huffs.

Ilia grumbles in annoyance. "You confuse me, Saint. Are you with the Fang or against it? It sounds like you're both, right now."

"I think we're done here, Ilia."

"There's a speech happening tomorrow, big Belladonna is delivering it. I'll have something to say."

"I don't have the patience for your games."

"You think this is a game?" She sighs, looks to the floor, then to him. "Are we even living on the same planet right now?"

"We are, maybe it's you that's delusional."

She scoffs. "Please, you and I both know there isn't any other way to get the humans to listen to us. They're only cooperative when they're scared."

"I would disagree."

"I understand why, you're so caught up with defending the innocent that you don't know what innocent is anymore." A sad smile forms on her face. Saint doesn't understand why she would be sad for him. It's the other way around. She turns, looks to the floor. "I'll see you around."

She disappears and scurries away. Like the coward she is.

Saint-14 understands that fear works; the Fallen did quite a number with it to the Last City.

He also understands that it can come with severe repercussions.

* * *

**Saint-14 conflicted on how to deal with Ilia, Osiris getting involved, I have some plans for this little story of mine.**

**Edit: Went through this one.**


	7. A Much-Needed Discussion

_Somewhere on the continent of Anima_

Osiris blinks a few times. Darkness, all around him. A burning smell reaches his nostrils. His body is compressed between two pieces of metal and he doesn't have much room to move his arms. A flame burns right next to him.

"_**The sheet metal above you is structurally compromised, you can hit it!**_" Sagira says. He nods, and charges some Light, converting it into kinetic energy into his palm and _bam_! He palm-strikes the debris covering him, sending it flying away. The side-door hits a tree and falls to the ground.

Sunlight reaches Osiris' vision, forcing him to blink a few times to readjust his eyes. His legs kick off any lingering piece of trash from the wreckage. His torso lifts itself, and his head swivels side-to-side.

"Behind the ship. Check it out," a woman's voice says, from a distance behind the ship, probably in front of the crash site. Someone approaches him with fast footsteps.

"Oh hoh! Found another one, boss!" A man wearing a maroon bandanna over one eye stands above him. A kit-bash rifle hangs loosely in one hand and the lack of trigger discipline is infuriating to say the least. That thing looks ready to fall apart the moment it fires. The man's entire attire reminds Osiris of bandits he had to deal with while defending the Last City in its early days. Soon enough, he is looking down the barrel of a rifle, pointed straight between his eyes.

The Warlock rolls his eyes as the man flicks his weapon upwards. "Come on, get up."

He will play their game. First, he has to verify if Weiss is alright first, then he will blow the lid on this. It's a solid enough plan.

"We found her bodyguard!"

"Good, that makes for a better ransom letter." The woman's voice sounds smug, which Osiris doesn't like. He'll wipe it off of her soon.

He stands up and raises his hands, forcing a smile as the bandit roughly tugs him forward. He doesn't stumble and slowly follows.

A group of two women and one man stand in front of Weiss, who is collapsed on the floor, breathing heavily.

"…That's her bodyguard?" The tan, brown-haired one chortles, and twirls a rapier in her hand, almost dropping it. The brown vest over her torn shirt accentuates the whole marauder style. The one in the middle dresses with sophistication, which stands out. She seems to be their leader.

"_**She's gripping it wrong…**_" Sagira grumbles.

"What is the meaning of this?" Osiris asks, looking towards the long, black-haired woman in the middle. She has a bit more armor to her, with red, knight-like gauntlets, but that seems to be it. She wears a short maroon-crimson skirt and black leggings. The man to her left is holding the Monte Carlo, studying the automatic rifle with the face of a star-struck child.

"_**Does everyone wear such revealing clothing around here?**_" Osiris thinks, his brow furrowing as he looks at them perplexed.

"_**To be fair, it's been a while since you've been outside of the Infinite Forest…**_" Sagira says. He ignores the comment.

"Simply put, you two are going to make us a lot of money," the short-haired woman says.

"I didn't ask you, did I?" Osiris snaps, and she scowls at him. "I'm asking the leader of this…scavenger party."

The long-haired woman chuckles lowly. "The Schnee entitlement affects those that aren't even related to them."

"Perhaps." Osiris lowers his hands and moves one behind his back His movements are slow, so they can see what he's doing. He starts charging a Void grenade that will burst into a small Supernova. Ikora told him that Warlocks refer to it as a Handheld Supernova. "So, I repeat my question, what is the meaning of this?"

"What's he reaching for?" The short-haired one steps forward, pointing her new sword at him. "Take it from him."

"The one who attempts to put their hand on me will…not like it." Osiris feels the Handheld Supernova prime. It's ready.

The man in the bandanna steps forward and Osiris vaporizes him into nothing. "I warned you."

Osiris charges a Blessing grenade in the other hand, showing the shimmering white orb to them. He tosses it down to Weiss, giving her a small shield that protects her with the Light.

The raiders draw their weapons, except for the long-haired one. She only puts one hand around the hilt of what appears to be a big sword.

"What did you do to him?" She asks, steadily and cautiously.

"Would you prefer the short answer or the long one?" Osiris smirks under his scarf. "I am equally prepared to deliver both."

"Spit it out, old man."

"He's dead. More than dead, actually. I collided him with the Void energy of this universe, and transformed him into dark matter." He prepares another grenade, this time showing the boiling Light to them. "And I use dark matter to create more Void energy."

"I have a grenade for each of your lackeys here." Osiris charges two Supernovas in both his hands. "Then it will be just you, and perhaps I can have an interesting duel."

"_**Dang! You're on fire, today!**_" Sagira says. "_**Did you hit your head or something!?**_"

The short-haired woman snarls, baring her teeth and stepping forward. The leader raises her arm, blocking her.

"Raven, I can deal with this idiot!" She says, her knuckles going bone-white from gripping the handle of the rapier too hard.

"He's not worth the trouble," Raven says. "Give them their weapons back, see how they fare in the wilderness."

"But-"

Her eyes flare, small flames burning from the edges of her eyes. "I said, give them their weapons."

The man throws the Monte Carlo back to Osiris while the short-haired woman drops the rapier with a particularly nasty scowl.

"This won't be the last time you hear of the Branwen tribe…" Raven cuts herself short as if waiting for him to introduce himself.

"Osiris." The Warlock crushes the Void Light, returning it to himself. "And I estimate that your tribe won't be much to deal with."

"_**Damn! Where were you for a thousand years!?**_"

Raven smiles and laughs once, then turns her back to him. "Perhaps it's the other way around, you'll pay for this, someday."

The three bandits walk away, fading into the woods that surround a wide dirt road. Osiris turns his attention to the still-down Weiss, who's breathing a bit steadier now.

"Weiss, can you walk?" He asks, putting his hand on her shoulder.

"I'm fine, just out of breath." She sighs and almost stumbles back down when trying to stand. "You were great out there, thank you."

"I suppose you could say that," Osiris hums, and pulls her up. He grabs her rapier, feeling the satisfying weight in his hand before offering it to her.

Sagira appears over his shoulder. "You know, for someone who's full of himself, you don't take many compliments."

"I don't need compliments, Sagira, I've been able to get by without them."

The Ghost rolls her eye and turns to Weiss. "Hi Weiss, I'm Sagira, this old man's Ghost."

"I'm not old."

Weiss smiles. "Good to meet you, Sagira."

Sagira flies over to her, next to her ear. "We'll be best friends if you say he's old," she whispers loudly, like she's trying to stir a reaction from Osiris.

"I'm not going to risk my life insulting him after he just saved me and…destroyed someone."

"Smart girl."

"Irrelevant discussion of my age aside, where are we going?" Osiris asks, slinging his rifle over his shoulder and crossing his arms. He looks down the road that seems to stretch forever. He wonders if it will build itself as he progresses through it, like in the Infinite Forest. He wonders if this world is just another simulation that he's trapped in.

"I'm heading to Mistral…where's my Scroll?" Weiss looks down to the floor, swiveling her torso as she searches for whatever a Scroll is. Her hands pat herself down, too.

"Is this it?" Sagira transmats a flat device into her hands.

"_**I've already read every single thing in that device. Mistral is a…kingdom that is still a bit far away from here.**_"

"_**Kingdom? Did we find ourselves in the medieval ages?**_"

"_**Judging by what she's wearing, we've probably stumbled into some neo-medieval timeline of Earth. If we were on Earth, that is. This planet is called Remnant.**_"

"Yes, this is it, thank you." Weiss fiddles with the device. "Oh no, we're still so far away. It'll take weeks for us to get there on foot!"

"Then we better get moving, and hopefully find ourselves some transport that can-"

Osiris' Ghost interrupts him.

"Way ahead of you!" A Sparrow materializes on the side of the road, facing the general direction of Mistral. It's a bit old, judging from the cobwebs that cover the engine exhaust.

"Oh." For the first time in quite a while, Osiris, legendary Warlock and master of snark, has nothing to say.

"Can you drive it?" Weiss asks.

"I can, but it's been a while." Osiris sighs.

"Careful, we only have one copy, so don't wreck it!" Sagira floats above the Sparrow as if she's trying to protect it.

"I know, Sagira," Osiris says, exasperated.

"Just reminding!"

"Do you always have to have the last word?"

"Yep! We've discussed this already!"

/

Raven, Vernal and a random tribe member traverse through the thick forestry of Anima. They progress slower than normal, because of the tension in the air. The silence between them is thick, ruining their previous mood.

Vernal is unhappy, maybe angry at Raven for her decision to leave the measly two survivors be. Both of which could have landed the tribe an uncountable amount of Lien. She wasn't sure about the robed one, Osiris, though. He looked like an outlander, like them. Atlas' choices in personal security seem to be getting weirder by the hour.

The bandit isn't one to stay silent about her issues, so she decides to raise them with Raven. Her voice is stolen from her when she studies her leader's tense walk and second-guesses herself.

"…Why didn't you let me take him down?" She manages to push out, managing to sound annoyed enough to mask the apprehension. "I could have handled the idiot."

"I had a bad feeling about him," Raven says, stopping in her tracks. The sound of an engine blasting in the distance sounds itself, though what kind is unknown. "He was holding back on us."

"Holding back?" Vernal asks. "How could he be holding back after killing someone like that?"

"Call it a hunch, but he was baiting us to attack." Raven sighs, looking down. "I don't think he's intent on going after the tribe, though. He has to take the Schnee girl somewhere."

"We'll deal with him if he tries to hurt us, right?"

There's a spike in tension. Raven seems to be at a loss for words, and she continues walking.

"Raven?"

"I'll deal with him myself if it comes to that." The leader says. Vernal doesn't feel that Raven is confident in what she's saying. She doesn't want to discuss that problem yet, though.

/

_Menagerie, Remnant_

The sun's rays brightly reflect on Saint-14's helm. It creates an unpleasant glare that seems too bothersome in the crowd gathered in front of the Belladonna household. He opts to step underneath the leaves of a tree for the shade.

A podium is already set up this early in the morning, and there are reporters littered all around. They are discussing the current topic that seems to be the White Fang.

Saint wonders what Ghira is going to say about them. The doors swing wide open as the mayor, Blake and Sun step out, greeted by light applause. The largest man steps onto the podium. He clears his throat once, and taps a few times on the mic, to verify if it works.

The speech commences. Ghira discusses general information about Adam Taurus, followed by what they gathered from the Scroll.

"His radical plans do not stop there, the documents on this Scroll proclaim his next target to be Haven academy, and its attached CCT tower…" While talking, he waves the device around with his hand, showing it to the crowd. "Their plan is to strike on the last full moon before the beginning of the fall semester, roughly two months from today, I have sent my swiftest messenger to the government of Mistral."

So that was what that small boat was for, Saint thinks. Ghira continues with his relationship with the White Fang, having been their leader at one point. He also describes his dreams and wishes for the organization, and how it was unsatisfied with its results. A bit of history about the Fang is unveiled. Mainly about its current leader, Sienna Khan and how she fought for equality between Faunus and humans.

Saint does see some similarities between this and the initial talks with the Fallen. He also remembers how they broke down after the first diplomatic party was brutally massacred by the House of Rain. That was the initial declaration of war against the species. He can't relate the two too closely, though. The Fallen were searching to take the Traveler while here, it's a battle for equal rights and respect.

It's a useful insight into the history of Faunus and man.

Ghira starts riling up the crowd by describing his plans to snuff out this "violent splinter group" and "restore the White Fang to its former glory." He kills the mood as quickly as he drums it up by putting out his plan for Menagerie's populace to go over to Haven academy and protect it at all costs. He clears his throat nervously, then invites Blake to take over the speech.

Saint looks down to a cloaked figure in front of him, and he can tell that it's Ilia underneath the garment. Did she choose a spot so close to him for a reason? She looks about ready to throw off her disguise, perhaps she wants him to hear her the loudest? Blake takes the stand and opens her mouth to speak.

"TRAITORS!" Ilia yells as she throws off her cloak. "Cowards, after everything the humans have done to us! Everything they've put us through, you're asking us to help them!?" Only her mouth can be seen underneath her face mask.

"I know we haven't been treated fairly-" Ghira attempts to say.

"Where was their help when the Dust companies treated our people like slaves, where was their help when kingdoms hunted Faunus for being who they are!?" She takes a quick breath of air. "Where was my help when my parents were killed in a Dust mine!? WHERE!?" It sounds like that hurt for her to say.

"The Belladonnas are the worst kind of Faunus-"

Saint puts a hand on her shoulder. "That's enough." She shakes him off.

"Get off me!" She steps forward, pointing an accusatory finger at Ghira. "They want us to work with the same people that are trying to hold us down!"

"If you truly, truly-"

"Enough," Saint says, quite a bit louder this time. "Enough of this!" A flaming hammer materializes in his hand.

Ilia uses her weapon as a grappling hook and pulls herself to the roof of the Belladonna household. He readies to throw his Hammer of Sol but holds himself back. He realizes that he would set the entire house aflame if he did.

"After her!" A guardsman says as the small group of police gives chase.

Saint-14 sighs, and lets the security forces do their work.

Oh, how he wishes for this to be a situation he's familiar with, but civil rights movements aren't one. He tries to remember his fight for equality but the only thing he can come up with is the vague blur of a general idea. What would the Saint-14 back then do?

Saint does remember that people mistreated him for being an Exo, but not to what extent. Did people try to dismantle him for parts? That couldn't be possible. He doesn't specifically recall such events ever happening.

Perhaps the fourteen resets on his body are taking its toll now.

. . .

Saint quietly observes Blake and Sun run around Kuo Kuana, desperately trying to recruit for Haven Academy's defense. Their main strategy of shoving tablets in peoples' faces doesn't seem to be working.

He doesn't envy the two, it definitely must be humiliating to be turned down again and again. He even spotted Sun pop out from a tree and almost injure himself because someone was cutting the tree down. The heart-break in Blake's eyes every time someone shakes their head or abruptly walks away does sadden him. He does see some similarities between her and Ilia, mainly their dedication to a cause.

The two hopeful Faunus sit down across from each other at a wooden table with drinks.

The drinks have coconuts as cups and small umbrellas as decoration.

Exquisite, he thinks. He's seen this once at a meeting with the New Monarchy. Executor Hideo had a certain chic taste.

Saint nearly knocks away the owner of the drink shop who is offering him one such coconut beverage. Her sudden appearance startled him. He considers refusing, but her hopeful makes him unable to, even though he doesn't need it. The moment his hand wraps around the cut shell of the fruit, she explodes in joy and bounds away, probably to tell her friends.

With his exotic-looking beverage in one hand, he grabs a chair but reconsiders when he sees the size of the seating. He puts it back at its place and opts to crouch down to Blake and Sun's table.

"Oh, Saint!" Blake sounds surprised at his arrival, despite the fact that anyone can hear him from miles away. Not only his heavy footsteps that make the wood dock creak, but also by the multitude of admirers. "I should've asked you first…" She turns around, her hands fumbling at her waist.

"Don't take out the tablet, I will be there to defend this Haven Academy," Saint says. He puts down his drink on the table and lightly pushing it away from himself. "I understand the consequences of the White Fang attacking it."

She sighs, and her hands return to around her drink. "It's only going to make things worse for the Faunus, everywhere."

"I see…I excuse for my unfamiliarity in this whole situation…it's so…odd to me, that people are against each other like this," he mumbles, looking down at the table.

"What do you mean? People never have disagreements with each other in your hometown?" Sun inquires, his eyes squinting a bit. His tail tenses up a bit.

"Not to this extent…back home, we had a common threat to fight. One that would try to bring about our very annihilation." Saint shakes his head. "Among them were the Fallen, scavengers, and pirates. Liars, cheats, savages." He seethes at the thought of the disgusting beings that were the Eliksni. "They would massacre us without remorse, and their lowest members would eat children."

There is a tense pause.

"I was unrelenting against them. They had come close to destroying our Last City, the battle of Twilight Gap…" He chuckles at the memory of the battle. "And I wanted revenge."

"…Twilight Gap?" Blake raises an eyebrow and looks at him confused.

"It was one of our largest battles versus the Fallen, and it was the closest they ever came to breaching through the Wall. They would have destroyed everything we held dear." Saint shakes his head. "After it, I embarked on a…oh what do you call it…a...crusade against the Fallen and killed them by the hundreds. I ended up destroying an entire noble line and its faction."

He pauses, the atmosphere warms up a slight bit. "I think about employing the same strategy against the White Fang, but I am not sure if it's appropriate, which is why I seek your opinion on the matter."

Blake regards him with a look that looks like she understands, but disagrees so much at the same time. Sun seems to be a bit freaked out, regarding him with a side-eye.

"Saint, I understand your enthusiasm but that's the same line of thinking as Adam," she says. "Have you ever seen someone and thought of them as the personification of 'this word'?"

Saint thinks for a moment. "Go on…"

"As in, the embodiment of something? Take Sun for example." The monkey-Faunus, as if on cue, grabs his drink with his tail and takes a very loud sip from the straw. He's trying hard to look cool, it seems. She giggles. "I'm leaning on 'earnest'."

"I see…" Saint says. "Keep going."

"And for Adam, at first, I thought it was justice, but I was wrong…in the end, it was spite." She sadly frowns. "He wants to do unto the world what was done to him, he wants to 'win' versus mankind, and make people feel the same suffering as he did."

Saint's thumb and pointer finger rub up-and-down the chin of his helm. "…I understand. I have felt spite before."

"You can't use your conflict with the 'Fallen' as inspiration on what to do against the White Fang, because they can't be compared," Blake says.

"Yeah! They sound more like the Grimm, with the eating children and all," Sun says. "Gross." He shivers once and makes a disgusted sound.

"I suppose that's true," Saint says, giving a moment for himself to ponder about Blake's thoughts. "About Ilia, though."

"She was my friend, and she joined the White Fang after losing her family to an accident in a Dust mine."

"You were part of the White Fang if I recall correctly?" Saint asks. The question seemed unrelated, but it did nag at him in the back of his mind.

"Yes, I thought of Adam and Ilia as my family, and abandoned my actual one." She pauses. "I admired the fact that she refused to live a normal life as a human-in-disguise, and I still do."

"You admire your enemy?" Saint asks.

"She's not my enemy, and I know we'll have to face her at one point." She looks down at her drink and pushes the umbrella around with a finger. "I don't want to kill her. I know that deep down, she can break free of the White Fang."

"You think highly of her," Saint says. "I can't say that I think of her the same way. She's trying to convince me of joining the White Fang, and I would be lying if I said it wasn't getting irritating."

"With your actions against those Atlas operatives and how you handed their butts to them, I can see why she would think that." Sun grins and taps him on the shoulder with his elbow.

Saint chuckles. "Blake, hand me your Scroll, so I can sign myself up, for the defense of Haven. Maybe, if the people saw my name on it, they would enlist." He nods to her.

"Oh, right," she says, bringing out her Scroll with the sign-up form.

Saint has trouble tapping on the screen with his giant fingers but manages to inscribe his name. His first hurdle with the form came in the confusion at where to put the "-14." He figured it would work out if he put it in the last-name section. He hands it back to her, and she reads it for a moment, but a look of confusion emerges on her face after a second. Sun peeks over and the same confused face takes him over too.

"Um, I don't mean to be rude, but…" Blake says, raising an eyebrow at him. "Is that...your actual name?"

"Is it the fourteen that is confusing you?" He sighs. "Since I haven't seen an Exo anywhere in this town…perhaps I should explain why."

"…Exo?"

Saint-14 pops the locks to his helmet and slowly removes the armor from his head.

"…Whoa." Sun drops his drink. "I did not expect that. So, the fourteen wasn't some pretentious, Atlesian way of saying your family's generation?"

"Correct."

"So you're a robot."

Saint rolls his eyes.

* * *

**Osiris makes his way to Mistral, while the final act of the Menagerie storyline is coming upon us. Saint-14 obviously has some idealogical differences with Blake, despite the discussion they just had, and I'll be showing that next chapter.**

**I'll say it right now: It involves someone getting gruesomely injured, and brothers getting annihilated.**

**Edit: Thanks to that one reviewer who pointed out a redundant line, so I changed it.**

**Edit 2: Went through this one, and it seems I have fucked up some formatting.**


	8. Choices and Consequences

Anna, weaponsmith of the White Fang chapter in Menagerie, knocks on the door of the Albain brothers' shrine. Something makes her shudder.

_Too damn cold out here_...she thinks, rubbing her arms.

She instinctively steps back one step when she hears movement inside. A firm hand pushes the door outwards and almost hits her in the antler.

The red-hooded Fennec Albain has his hands clasped together as soon as they see each other. His small smile is soft enough to ease her a bit, but it borders on that uncanny valley feeling of creepiness.

"Oh, um, hi, I was told that I was needed here?" Anna forces her own smile and her hands lock behind her back.

"Why yes, Anna, come in." Like his smile, Fennec's voice is calm, soft and quiet. She would have had trouble hearing him if it weren't deadly silent at the camp. "We've invited you to discuss the White Fang's next actions on Menagerie."

"Do you mean the attack on the Belladonna household? I've already said that I would hang back and prep more weapons." Her posture tenses and her hand grips the back of her jeans. She widens her smile and bites on her lower lip. "Unless there's…"

"We request that you take a more…proactive role in contributing to this operation. We require your aid with a..." Corsac takes over, stepping in front of his brother. "Saint-Fourteen, who is certain to…interfere, if you understand us."

"…Are you asking me to kill him?" Her throat dries. "And are you only coming to me because I'm friends with him?"

The brothers pause at her suggestion.

"No…we only need you to distract him," Fennec says.

"We understand that you would be no match for someone like him," Corsac says. "But your previous relations with him will allow him to provide a…leniency, towards you."

"Do you understand what we need you to do for us?" Fennec finishes off, an evil glint in his eye as the brothers both stare at her.

She wants to reject the proposition, she's desperate to find a way to tell them. "I-" Her voice can't pronounce the words required.

"Well?" She sees Corsac draw a small dagger from the side of his waist. The unsheathing of metal is slow, prolonged; he wants her to know. The fox-Faunus tilts his head downwards and his eyes take a dark appearance. "We could repeat ourselves if it wasn't clear enough." There is a hint of something, underneath the positive tone. Something she doesn't like.

"Do you understand how vital it would for Saint-Fourteen to be out of the picture?" Fennec himself draws a blade too. "The plan will most certainly fall apart without your input."

Anna takes a step back, and stammers, unable to pronounce her thoughts.

"I-I'll…do it." Anna exhales and looks to the floor with shame. "I'll contact him tonight."

"Perfect…we need him gone for only a few hours."

She blinks a few times. The brothers' devious smiles return to their faces as they both do a simultaneous and short bow to her. Anna starts backing away to the door, her own expression stiff, unnatural. Relief comes over her when she feels the cool, evening air on her back.

"Thank you, Anna, you will prove to be crucial in our plans," Fennec says before the door shuts behind her.

She takes out her Scroll, going down her short list of contacts, most of which are her dead family. Her thumb hovers over the name "Saint-14." She takes a deep breath and looks around. She stops a moment to watch the troops that have started running back-and-forth.

Anna shuts her eyes and taps on the name. Her Scroll speed-dials the now well-known vigilante.

"Anna?" Saint's voice nearly pierces her ear because of how loud he's talking. "Do you need anything? Where have you been for the past few days?"

"Yeah, Saint…" she pauses, her breath hitching inside her throat. "I need to talk to you, meet me at the…edge of…town. In about an hour, yeah."

"Um…" She flinches at his response, and crosses her fingers, hoping that he will agree. The hesitation in his voice doesn't sound very convincing, though. "Of course, I will be on the east side, far down the road from the Belladonna household."

"…Yeah, that'll…be fine, I guess."

"Is something wrong, Anna? You don't sound too good." Hearing him be so caring when she's about to betray him like this…it's wrong. She feels wrong. "Anna?"

"Just meet me there, okay?"

"…Okay."

. . .

Nighttime has fallen. The shattered moon shines high above Kuo Kuana. A bird is chirping somewhere, and the wind blows down the sandstone road. Anna keeps one hand hovering over the hand cannon at her waist. The bullet in it should be enough to bring anything down, right? She would only have one shot so it'll have to count.

She squints and sees the faint silhouette of the hulking Saint-14 in the distance. The line that glows lavender going down the center of his helmet is the first thing she sees. The shadow covering him is cast away by the wind blowing from a different angle.

His shotgun is on his back. His arms are crossed.

She'll have the advantage of the draw.

"Saint," Anna says, her mouth dry. "It's been a while." She tries to sound confident but it comes out as a pathetic mixture of anguish and nervousness.

"Only a few days," Saint muses, stepping forward. "What do you need that is so important that you need to talk to me in person?"

"…I just…" Anna struggles to hold back tears. Not at the thought of threatening her only friend, but about what he would do to her afterward. She knows that she won't survive an encounter versus him in any realm of possibility.

"I'm…I'm sorry."

/

It has been a while since Saint-14 had been surprised by someone drawing a weapon. Usually, he would put a shell in them or incapacitate before they could do anything with it. Seeing Anna whip out a hand cannon from her waist and nearly dropping it was quite unexpected.

"Anna?" Saint says. "Did the White Fang tell you to kill me?" He isn't fazed by the weapon, but he doesn't understand why she would point a weapon at him in the first place. Even if she does shoot, does she know the bullet will even pierce his shields? She knows of his power, so this move makes no sense to him.

"They didn't. They know you'll end me in a second." Her arm falters a bit, getting a bit tired. The barrel is still pointing at around his chest though.

"So, what is the meaning of this?"

An explosion erupts somewhere from the Belladonna household, followed by gunfire.

"…Cowards." He sighs and steps forward. His Sentinel Shield materializes on his forearm and his entire body glows purple. "Drop the pistol, please." He reaches his palm out at her.

Anna sighs and scoffs to herself. "They told me to fucking distract you. Distract you." She snarls and waves the gun around in the air. "Do you honestly believe that they said that?"

"…Not exactly. A weapon of that size is meant to kill." Saint's head leans forward, expecting her to hand it over.

"I know it is, which is why I brought it. But look at you, you're not even reacting to it." She snarls and points the hand cannon to the air, then lets it fall. It clinks onto the ground pathetically, and the hammer falls out. "It's actually pointless. Save the Belladonnas, go." Her tone indicates that she stopped caring.

Saint steps in front of her and pats her on the shoulder. "This is your chance to break free, okay? Take off the mask, or I will do it for you." His thumb smooths over the flimsy plastic face mask that covers half of her face. There are cuts in it to accommodate her elk antlers.

She nods once, giving him affirmation. He fiddles the mask around a bit and manages to separate her face from it.

Her dull, grey eyes are the first things he notices.

"Just punch me or something, please." Anna snorts and smirks. "When I was planning this entire encounter on the way, I thought you would be trying to beg me to put the gun down."'

"You know me well enough to know that I would have taken the weapon whether you would have shot or not." Saint chuckles, and he brings her close for a hug. "I don't have any qualms with you. You were only doing what you were told, correct? You had no other choice."

"Now, if you will excuse me." He lets her go. "I have unfinished business to settle."

"With Ilia?"

"Primarily her, yes. The brothers may be involved too. Stay in the village, I can protect you."

"…I'll be hiding out in the camp."

"Suit yourself."

. . .

Now Saint's rage has piqued in a way he hadn't felt since the battle of Twilight Gap. His vision is somewhat tinted red, perhaps an Exo setting he can change, or perhaps it's built-in. His boot is the first contact with the front doors of the Belladonna household, sending them wide-open. Two White Fang insurgents are tossed to the sides, breaking through windows.

The Albain brothers are pointing daggers with glowing swirls at Ghira Belladonna, who had gone shirtless. The mayor now bares claws from his fingertips and has revealed fangs in his teeth.

Saint materializes his shield and steps between the two parties. "I take it you do not need my help?" He asks Ghira, who nods in reply. "Good, handle these fools for me." He can hear them make offended remarks and blocks a charged shot of white aimed straight at his neck. He glares at the hooded Corsac.

"Pathetic," he grumbles, earning a growl from the Faunus. He scoffs once and walks through the doorway that leads to the inside of the house.

If Ilia were to be anywhere, it would be further inside the house.

He turns towards a hallway. The candles are unlit, leaving the corridor dark, save for the moon's soft light shining through the rooftop windows. A White Fang insurgent rushes him with their spear, having been hiding behind a pillar. He grabs them by the face and throws them into a wall. The body slumps to the floor, a dark smear following it. Saint's boots stomp against the wooden floor, making a thumping sound with every step. He wants Ilia to know he is coming for her.

He stops at a small set of doors that are barely tall enough to fit him. Nothing about them indicates that she's in here, but a gut feeling is saying so. He takes a small breath and bashes the entrance down with his shield. Dust kicks up all around him, temporarily concealing his form as he steps inside the meeting room.

"COWARD!" He bellows. He looks up to an upper walkway that wraps around the entire room. Ilia is standing over a railing, her face-mask on and lash in hand. She grimaces and looks down at him. "You would attack a girl's family when she isn't even here to defend them!"

"I didn't-" Saint doesn't let her finish talking and throws his shield at her. She jumps over, and down onto the same level as him.

"You have squandered your chance at mercy," Saint rumbles, his shield returning to him. "The time for talking is over." He raises and points it at her. "So, fight."

Ilia scowls, and her lash extends into its whip form. With a yell, she swings at him, aiming for the head. Saint steps to the side and throws his shield again, preparing a Suppression grenade in the other hand.

"Oh no you don't!" She says as her whip hits his palm, forcing him to drop the unready explosive. The Light in it dissipates and it fades away. "I've seen you fight Saint!"

"Then you will know that you are no match!" The shield bounces back from a wall and hits her from behind. She stumbles forward and falls over onto her knees, but quickly gets back up. "Enough useless chit-chat, give me a worthwhile duel!"

Ilia twirls and regains the high-ground up on the high walkway. She seems to be assessing the situation. It's a smart idea, but Saint has an answer to it. He does away with the Sentinel Shield and instead channels his Light into Arc. The energy crackles all around him and pools under his feet, creating some propulsion for him. He raises his arm and points his fist upwards. His boots tremble, ready to launch his body into the air.

Arc energy snaps and pops as he propels himself like a missile that pointed to the center of Ilia's body. She gasps, and jumps away, hanging onto a pole in the corner. The entire walkway crumbles when he lands, sending them both tumbling back down to ground level.

Saint isn't affected, as he punches his way out of the debris and emerges without any injuries.

Ilia, on the other hand, is nowhere to be seen. He scans for her, and all of a sudden, the room is plunged into darkness.

"So, this is what you are!? A fool who can only fight in the shadows!?"

"SHUT UP!" Her voice comes from above as he spots her silhouette in the air over him. Her lash strikes the opening between his helmet and his chest plate, wrapping around his neck. It sends an electric shock that puts his systems into disarray. He seizes for a moment, unable to move his limbs and a searing pain pulsates once through his body. She takes the opportunity to pull him forward, making him stumble to the floor. She beats her knee once against the front of his helmet, then sends a left and right hook to the sides of his head. She earns a single spark from his frame.

She delivers one last roundhouse kick to his head before retreating into darkness. Saint regains control of his body and slams his fist into the ground before standing up.

"I didn't have a choice! This is bigger than us, Saint!" She says. The source of her voice is indeterminable, seemingly coming from everywhere at once.

"You are daring, I admit," he mumbles to himself. A blazing hammer forms in his hand, flames coming out of it from every direction.

"You always had a choice, Ilia!" He yells in reply. His body turns in circles, searching for the camouflaged Faunus. He has to do something; the dark will give her an advantage.

_Sorry, Ghira,_ he thinks as he throws the hammer into one of the desks that are set up in neat rows. It sets the furniture aflame, and by consequence catches on. With a fire burning, visibility improves as shadows become visible. His sensors pick up on Ilia's own, exposing her hiding spot behind a table. He delivers another hammer in her direction, striking the cover. The projectile explodes on impact, splitting up into three smaller fireballs. He hears a cry of pain and a moving trail of embers that dissipates half a second after being spotted.

Ilia reveals herself. Fragments of skin on her left arm are completely black, and her breathing is labored. She's running out of energy, Saint can feel it. She coughs, and blood splatters to the floor.

"Look what you've done. You've destroyed the house more than anyone could have!" She brings her arms out wide, grinning in delirium.

"I will put an end to your violence because you're unable to." Saint closes one hand into a fist and summons his Sentinel Shield once more. "Houses can be rebuilt, not people."

"It's the only thing that works!" She screams. "What are we supposed to do when the humans that attack us aren't stopped!? The only thing we can do is attack back!"

She lashes out again, her weapon extending and sparking violently. She twirls with every strike, fighting with renewed vigor and distinct anger. It's a desperate anger; she's cornered, and like a rat, will fight her hardest. Whether's it's out of desperation or some twisted courage, Saint doesn't know, but it feels like the former. Her weapon pops every time it makes contact with his shield. He smacks the whip upwards, and bashes her body, producing a shockwave that knocks Ilia off balance. This brief stunned period allows him to close the distance between them.

She compresses her weapon back into its blade form and deftly does a flip over his head, landing a few feet behind him. She swings, transforming her weapon into a whip again. The blow hits with a surprising amount of force, making Saint recoil back slightly. She compresses her armament and charges him, swiping sideways against his shield.

He shoves her back and grabs her Lash by the bottom of the blade, just above the handle. His shield disappears. She smirks and lets electricity flow through. Saint's vision goes haywire and multiple colors flash in his view but he keeps enough control of his body to channel the energy into his other fist. He brings it forward and lands a punch straight in the center of her mask, cracking it in two. Ilia cries out in pain while her entire body flinches back, spinning to try and catch herself. The pieces of Grimm bone fall from her face, clattering on the floor. Saint takes the new opening to land another blow across her cheek, dispatching her to the floor. Her body is sprawled out but still moving. She stumbles back up, turns around and raises her fists.

"Come on, fight me!" She yells as she charges him.

He side-steps her attempt at a punch, and she careens forward, almost falling again. Her hand reaches for a weapon but finds nothing other than a broken plank of wood. She throws it at him and it bounces off of his chest piece.

Saint grabs her by the back of her vest. She weakly struggles against the grip, her own hands feebly trying to pry him off. He turns her around, showing her bloodied face, still defiant to him.

A fighter to the end. He will remember her determination.

"This is it, Ilia," Saint says.

"Fuck. You!" She manages to utter out. He reels his head back, charging his Light into one last attack, his finishing move.

There is a resounding crunch as his helmet makes contact with the side of her visage.

Ilia gasps, and her breath hitches. The squelching of flesh as he pulls his helmet away. He readies for another headbutt.

"Saint!" He hears Blake cry out, from the side. "Oh no, no, no, Ilia!"

"Ilia! Let her go!" He doesn't question and lets her body fall to the floor. Blake rushes to it, falling to her knees as her hands apply pressure new gaping hole in Ilia's eye socket. "Saint! What did you do!?"

"What I had to," he replies, lowly. "Let me finish the job, she won't be a problem for-" He steps over her, readying the Perfect Paradox. One shell is all that's needed.

"She's going to die!" She exclaims and pushes him away. "I didn't…no…"

"Blake."

"Get away from her!" Blake draws her own weapon and readies it. She stands over Ilia's body, acting as a barrier between her and Saint. "This isn't right!"

"Blake-"

"Shut up! You didn't even give her a chance!" Tears come from the cat-Faunus' face. "I said, get away!" She pushes him again. He doesn't move.

"Please! She deserves a second chance!"

"You don't understand..." His Void Light boils. "I have given her many, she has refused every time. She is only getting what is-"

A body bursts through a wall, and two daggers clatter to the floor.

"Of course, these two," Saint mutters. An Albain tries to scoop up a dagger but he blasts him once with Perfect Paradox, sending the poor fox-Faunus to a wall. He tackles them down. He can't tell the two apart anymore; only that one doesn't have a red hood and that one does. A simple smash with his elbow into their neck is enough to render them immobile. He's pretty sure this is Corsac.

A crack, and a breath that chokes once before slowly releasing. The person under Saint goes limp.

The other Albain hears it and just seems to know that his brother is dead.

"Brother!" The man picks up both daggers and charges Saint with a loud cry. "You monster!"

Saint punches him straight in the chest and stuffs the Perfect Paradox's barrel into it in the blink of an eye. One blast and Fennec is on the floor.

Dead? Most likely, judging from the body's unresponsive state.

Saint needs air.

* * *

**More Osiris next chapter.**

**Edit: Went through this one.**

**Edit 2: Thanks to some feedback, I made some things a bit less confusing to read.**


	9. Reunions

**Some of you hate Ilia holy shit. WeirdChamp**

* * *

_Somewhere in Anima…_

Osiris stands atop a campfire that he created with the use of his Solar Light. Weiss had fallen asleep a few hours ago leaning against a tree. So far they have covered quite a bit of distance on the Sparrow, having only followed signs that pointed towards Mistral. Sagira made sure to verify that they were all being truthful.

"Have you been able to contact one of my echoes? I can't feel a single one," Osiris asks, looking down at the burning flame. His head turns to look at the Sparrow parked along the road, to make sure it's still there. The night is exceptionally dark, reminding him of the darkness of Panoptes' futures. "I'm not sure if I should call this new feeling freedom or emptiness."

"So, good news first." Sagira flies in front of him. "I managed to locate an echo."

"Bad news is that I found a corpse." She waits for a moment, allowing him to consider the new information. "And it's locked up in a flying coliseum in Atlas, which is an ocean away from here. Even worse…"

"We will get to that in the future, tell me more about this planet." Osiris crosses his arms, looking away from the fire and into the darkness of the forest. He wonders how many creatures could inhabit it. His estimates range in the thousands. One day, when everything settles down, he would take a walk inside a forest and observe nature in its purest form.

"How far back do you want me to go?" Sagira chuckles to herself. "Because that'll take days to crunch through when spoken. I can process it in a minute."

"Let's start with the dangers that lurk," Osiris says.

"The main threat are dark beasts known as the Grimm." Sagira floats over to Weiss, looking down at her with her single eye. She turns back and nods once, affirming that the girl's fine, before returning her attention to Osiris.

"Is something wrong, Sagira?" Osiris asks.

"Sorry, I thought I noticed something with her. She's fine," Sagira answers, flying back to him. "Anyways, the Grimm has been a thing on Remnant since the start, and they thrive off of negativity."

"Negativity? Like the Ahamkara?" The idea of a species that profits off of human emotions is interesting in its simplicity. Ahamkara would be the closest to that, but there seems to be a key difference.

"Not really, Ahamkara feed on desires, and wishes. These things gravitate towards sadness, anger, and all those negative emotions." Sagira hums. "They sound like a cartoon villain, the more I think about them."

"They aren't motivated by anything external?" Osiris hums himself, too.

"Doesn't seem like it, they just love to destroy apparently."

"Interesting…"

"Osiris?" Weiss' voice almost makes him jump. He turns around and the girl is stretching her arms, still seated against the tree. "You're still up?"

"I have to keep watch, in case any…Grimm, come along, or more raiders," Osiris says, offering her a hand. She takes it and he pulls her up.

"If you need rest I can take up guard duty if you'd like…" She yawns, covering her mouth with her palm. "It's still really early. We can head out in an hour, once the sun rises."

"We can head out now, Osiris is pretty good at navigating in the dark!" Sagira pipes in with her signature snarky cheerfulness.

"Sagira, your need to prop me up as a miracle savior is sometimes infuriating." Osiris exhales in exasperation, shaking his head.

"Hey, if you won't do it, then I will for you!" she says, fluttering up into the air, dancing around his head, which seems to be a taunt. "And I never said that you were a 'miracle savior', just that you're really good at things!"

A gunshot booms in the distance. It's faint and singular. A beast howls into the night around that same area. More gunfire follows. Short bursts; small arms. Weiss straightens herself and grabs her rapier. She called it "Myrtenaster."

"You heard that?" She says, looking around warily.

"I did, it seems to be coming from down the road. Sagira, if I recall correctly that's the location of a village?" Osiris turns to Sagira, who nods once.

"Yep, let's get going, we should only be a few minutes on Sparrow."

"Well, let's go!" Weiss says as she rushes to the Sparrow as fast as she can in heels on rough dirt.

Osiris rolls his eyes before mounting the vehicle. He revs the engine once and nods to the one behind him before looking forward. His feet press down on the boosters and off they go into the darkness, looking for danger.

The feeling of wind passing through his face is…refreshing. He takes the time on the Sparrow to enjoy the simple feeling on his skin. He leans forward a bit, concentrating back into the reason he's driving.

Small cracks of white and orange flash. A few microseconds later, the bangs of weaponry: Short, and disciplined. These people must be trained.

The Sparrow slows to a stop, facing a broken-down gate of what looks to be a big township. An order of magnitude smaller than the City, but big enough to house at least a few thousands of souls.

Weiss is the first to dismount. She creates a rune that's slanted backwards on the vertical axis and flings herself into battle.

Osiris blinks a few times, quietly thinks, and he sets himself alight, glowing a bright golden. He zips into the air, carrying his Dawnblade by the hilt in both hands. A quick view from high above, and he dives downwards. His sword slices the air once and sends an arc of fire to a quadrupedal beast of darkness, resembling a wolf. It disintegrates, disappearing into a black mist that whittles away into the fresh air.

A soldier wearing a white battle vest and helmet that covers their entire face behind a visor looks up. The two lock eyes and Osiris nods, before dashing to the side as a massive condor plunges down to him. Its wingspan nearly throws him off, but he uses a burst of fire to realign his body mid-air. It screeches a high-pitched song, making him wince.

"Nevermore!" He hears a trooper from below scream out in abject horror.

"**_I feel that is a familiar term,_**" Osiris thinks.

"**_Old poem?_**" Sagira suggests.

"**_My memory is foggy, but I think yes._**"

Osiris slashes in the air, hurling another arc of fire at the so-called Nevermore, hitting it in the wing. The jab manages to burn a few feathers, judging by the crisp ones that fly towards him. The beast changes direction, tilting a bit to the right and effectuating a full turn.

Underneath a bone mask that conforms to its face, four eyes glare him down in full, unabridged hatred. It stops, realigns itself vertically and flaps its wings once. Several sharp feather-spears speed towards him, cutting through the air.

Osiris squints, zips to the left, avoiding a few, and then slashes to burn another set that he wouldn't be able to evade. He dives downwards, to dodge the rest but a frozen one pokes him straight in the back. It doesn't do much damage to himself, but it threw his concentration off. He looks to his right to see Weiss floating on one of her black runes. One hand covers her mouth with her eyes widened, while she flicks away her rapier, sending away the rest of the frozen feathers.

Osiris snorts and transforms the destructive Light in his blade into a restorative one. It shimmers a bright gold that shines in the darkness, illuminating the area a meter or so around him. A beacon channeled to repel the creatures of evil that inhabit this world.

Osiris chuckles at the thought of it all, and nose-dives to the floor. He lands in the middle of a circle of white-uniformed soldiers. They don't pay him much mind, more occupied with shooting the black beasts attacking them.

A Nevermore feather impales one carrying a rocket launcher in the chest. The heavy armament drops to the floor and rolls to Osiris' feet. He nods to his Dawnblade and stabs the tip into the floor, creating a brilliant pool of radiance. He crouches and unslings the Monte Carlo, training the sights on a wolf-like creature rushing with its pack. A bear trails behind, quite a bit larger than the rest. Distance seems to a few dozen meters away, would take around a minute or so to reach him and the squadron of soldiers.

He squints, slows his breathing and lets out a small volley of rounds. They strike true and crack the bone mask of one, revealing an ugly, pungent growth that tries to escape.

"**_Good shot!_**" Sagira exclaims. He fires again, downing the beast and tripping the ones behind it. The rest of his magazine gets expedited into more heads.

"Hamil's down, someone get on the launcher!" A voice barks, above all the gunfire.

"I'm on it!" Osiris lowers his weapon and makes his way to the bipod-mounted rocket launcher. It takes a moment for him to reorient it so its computer screen could be visible, and he slaps the power button. It boots up with a cheery tone and loads into a menu where it lists dozens of options that don't mean much in battle. "Sagira!"

"On it!" The Ghost starts blasting sky-blue beams at it, deciphering the software inside the launcher. A motor spins to life, the weapon starting to rotate, its barrel not lifting up and pointing towards the people its meant to defend. "You might want to back up a bit…"

Osiris does as told and takes a step back, giving the automated cannon some space. It spins some more, stops in place and starts emitting a high-pitched whine. Five seconds later, a rocket comes out of the barrel, which then ascends straight into the air.

"**_That's a perfect ninety-degree angle,_**" Osiris thinks. "**_But I don't see why they couldn't have made it point upwards in the first place._**"

"**_You're asking me? I-_**" The two stay silent as they witness the rocket reach the Nevermore and split into many mini-cluster missiles that track the winged beast. A few more dozen smaller explosions batter the already injured beast. "**_That's a Gjallarhorn. They made an automated Gjallarhorn who's rocket can turn ninety-degrees._**" It screeches and starts falling, already dead.

"Whoo! There goes the 'ol Loud Horn!"

"**_Traveler help us…_**"

Osiris isn't sure if the man is teasing him or if it's actually called that. He stares at it before returning back to the real world as Weiss lands next to him, holding Myrtenaster over her shoulder.

"You should be careful not to poke anyone that's behind you," Sagira suggests, and Weiss shrugs in response, a small smile on her face.

The Nevermore disintegrates in the air, clearing up the dawn sky, and letting the sun shine through.

"**_Get as much information on that weapon as you can,_**" Osiris says. Sagira nods and flies over to it, scanning it with a few beams of Light.

"**_Almost done…oh my. This…oh, wow I did not expect that…_**" Sagira mumbles to herself, shock laced in her voice. "**_This is an actual Gjallarhorn, but they just…built over it._**"

"**_And you are absolutely sure about this?_**"

"**_I've cross-referenced the mechanics with yours and it matches…hold on a second…the serial number, it's…_**" Sagira's voice cuts itself off, stunned. "**_This is Saint-Fourteen's Gjallarhorn._**"

"**_So that means…there is a chance he's here?_**" Osiris' eyes widen. He's stunned, bewildered…amazed. After days of building the Sundial, countless time searching for the Titan...this would be where he would finally find Saint-14? He doesn't want to believe it. The Guardian managing to pull him out of the Corridors of Time damn-near put him in a catatonic state…but this? This is unheard of, and he has supposedly seen everything in the Infinite Forest already.

"Um…Osiris, are you okay?" Right, Weiss is still with him. He will have to shelf the search for now. "You look…"

Osiris brings his hand up, swiping his palm in front of her face. "I'm fine…the weapon just brought back some nostalgia."

"You sound like a friend of mine." She smiles and holsters Myrtenaster. "I wonder where Ruby is right now…" She looks up in thought.

"Hey, Schnee girl and robe man!" A soldier calls out to them, making them both turn to him. "You need a ride? We can get her back to Atlas."

Weiss pales. "Um, no, I'm actually headed for Mistral."

"Mistral?" The soldier crosses his arms, tilting his head in confusion. "What could you possibly want there?"

"I'm trying to find my sister,"

"**_Noble cause,_**" Sagira comments.

"**_Not without specifics do we know it's a noble cause,_**" Osiris replies.

"Your sister? Winter Schnee?" The soldier hums to himself. "Well…alright, but if she isn't there, we'll have to bring you back. We've been out in this damned wilderness for weeks now, scrounging for Vex parts-"

"Sorry, could you repeat that? You were searching for what?" Osiris cuts the man off, his voice grave.

"Oh, I shouldn't have said that you see it's a top-secret project and…"

"Uh huh…" Osiris mumbles.

"**_Sagira, get a scan on those boxes._**" He marks various wooden boxes littered about the town square. Some are already cracked open, the contents spilling out.

"**_On it!_**"

"Look, we'll take you two to Mistral if you don't tell anyone what we're doing out here."

Osiris wants to object but when he opens his mouth Weiss speaks instead.

"Deal."

He scoffs and rolls his eyes.

"**_Transmat anything that can be considered useful._**"

"**_I got an…an entire jar of Vex Radiolaria. Ooh, that's a few Goblin eyes! Why are they all covered in moss…oh._**" Sagira seems to have come to a realization. "**_These are Sol Divisive Vex, the ones in the Black Garden._**"

"**_What are they doing here?_**"

"**_You know that 'even worse' I mentioned earlier?_**"

"**_Yes-_**"

"Hey, you coming? Manta's arriving." Somewhere a bit far, Osiris can make out the sound of an aircraft engine approaching. He can make out a V-TOL aircraft on fast approach somewhere around the mountains.

"**_We'll discuss this inside the vessel,_**" Osiris mentally says.

/

_Menagerie, Remnant._

Saint-14 doesn't stay for Blake's speech after seeing Ilia carried out of the building in an unzipped body bag. He heads for the White Fang camp, brushing through the forestry and shrubbery that covers the path to it.

The air gets noticeably hotter as he spots out small flecks of ash blowing in the air, landing all over his armor. He pushes a branch aside and sees giant flames that reach as tall as the trees burning ferociously. In the center of the road that leads to the camp, there is a single person sitting in the mud, watching the entire thing burn. They have antler ears.

"…Anna?" He wagers, walking up next to the person. She chuckles when he's at her side.

"It's a controlled fire. It'll fizzle out in about ten minutes."

"You started it?" The flame contrasts with the dark night, lighting the area up like it's still daytime. He squats next to her.

"Yep, a bit of powder here, a lighter there, organize some barrels together and bam, the entire camp's in ashes." She laughs, and her smile is a bit maniacal. "I have nowhere to go."

"Of course you do, there's still Kuo Kuana, they're accepting White Fang defectors," Saint says, crossing his arms and watching the fire. "Don't make the choice Ilia did."

"About Ilia…" She pauses as if whatever she is going to say is taboo. "Did you…kill her?"

"I…I'm not sure. She might die in hospital, she might survive. I was stopped from finishing her off," he says, almost regretfully. "I headbutted her face."

"Ouch…" She pinches the bridge of her nose and looks to him. "Do you think you made the right decision?"

"I..." He doesn't have an answer to the question. "How you answer _my_ question will help me decide."

"Well, go on, ask it." She pats him once on the shoulder.

He doesn't waste much time. "Who ordered you to distract me?"

"Corsac and Fennec, by the way, did you kill them? Please tell me you did."

Saint chuckles. "I did. Do you think Ilia planned this attack?"

"Hell no, she's a great fighter but she has a rash brain, besides, she used to be head-over-heels in love with the Belladonna girl."

"With Blake?"

"Yeah, I don't think she would make the decision by herself." Anna leans her head on his arm. "My opinion, for all I know she could've planned the entire thing by herself and is framing the Albain brothers."

"Do you believe that?" Saint asks.

She laughs. "No, it was a crazy idea I threw out."

"I have to talk to Ilia before I take action. I don't want to do something that I would regret, later on." He pauses. "Perhaps I will regret injuring her like tonight."

"I'll follow you back to the village." Anna stands up and stretches her arms. The fire has started dying.

"Suit yourself."

. . .

_Next day…_

The sun shines bright over Kuo Kuana. The village bustles with activity as crews work to repair the Belladonna household. Doctors and the like are working to tend the injured, some White Fang, some guardsmen and some innocents caught in the crossfire.

Saint-14 is barraged with questions by pedestrians eager to know what actually happened inside the house. Reporters press their microphones and cameras in his face. He respectfully declines every time. They seem to have also taken notice the dark, crusty build-up on the mohawk of his helm and begin to avoid him.

According to the list of patients given to him by a nurse, this tent should be where Ilia is kept in. It's wide, enough to fit many people, but apparently, she has priority over the rest.

"That's the tent of White Fang operative Ilia Amitola," a reporter says from behind him.

"I am aware," he replies, not turning back to them. He grabs on the cloth door. "We have unsettled business," is all he says as he enters.

The tent is quite a bit darker than the outside, the only source of lights being a blurred out sun and a few lamps along the walls.

Blake is sitting next to Ilia, their hands holding onto each other. The cat-Faunus is sleeping, snoring very lightly.

Saint moves his hands to the sides of his helm, popping out the locks and pulling it away from his head. The tiny hiss of air from depressurization is enough to wake the cat-Faunus up with a gasp.

"Blake," he says, his photoreceptors gazing into her eyes.

"How could you do that to her?" she immediately says, looking at him with a tired and bewildered gaze. "You were trying to kill her!"

Speaking of Ilia, she has half her face covered by white bandages that wrap around her head. The fabrics stretch on her, revealing slight amounts of details of what it looks like under there. There are little specks of red that pop up on the white.

"I know, Blake, if you hadn't stopped me, I would have," Saint says, looking at the bedridden Ilia. "Is she okay?"

Blake sighs. "She's stable."

"That's good, I suppose."

"Why do you suppose? Are you going to kill her in a fucking hospital bed?" Blake stands up and puts a hand to the handle of her weapon, stashed at the back of her waist.

"I'm not. I need to ask her a few questions," Saint says. "For clarification."

"She's asleep, you'll have to come back later."

"I can wait." He slides a chair sitting in a corner and sits down diagonally from Ilia's bed.

There's an uncomfortable silence between the two that lasts for minutes. Blake is the one to break it.

"Did you really mean it, yesterday?"

"Mean what?" Saint asks, turning to her and regarding her, perplexed.

"That you were doing what you had to." She avoids his gaze, looking down at her legs.

He ponders the question for a long minute. "I did."

"I…I see," she says. "Do you think she's at fault for following orders?"

"That excuse hasn't been valid for centuries, Blake," Saint rumbles, crossing his arms.

"I didn't mean it that way…she didn't have anywhere else to go, and didn't know what else to do," Blake says. "She couldn't leave the White Fang. With Corsac and Fennec dead, and the White Fang operation here gone, she can be free! We can get her out of Adam's plans!"

"My perspective on the problem is quite different than yours." Saint pauses. "She's a risk."

"And I'm going to take that risk-"

"Blake? Is…is that you?" Ilia's voice pulls both of their heads to look at the bedridden chameleon-Faunus. She weakly smiles when looking at Blake.

The cat-Faunus turns her attention to her. "It's me, Ilia—are you okay?"

"Could be better-" Ilia explodes into a coughing fit. "I got my ass handed to me last night."

"Not funny." Blake lightly punches her in the shoulder.

Ilia slowly cranes her neck to face Saint, and her one visible eye widens as she lays it on him.

"Is that Saint?" she croaks.

"I'm Saint-Fourteen, Ilia." He stands up and presses his helmet between his hip and his forearm. He approaches, slowly, deliberately. "I wanted to ask you something."

"I kind of owe it to you since you let me-"

"Blake let you live," Saint corrects. "If she hadn't interfered, you would be dead, which would mean she would have also wanted you dead," he says, plainly. "Anyhow for my question…did you believe you were doing the right thing?"

"I…" Ilia goes silent. "I…no. I…I didn't know what else to do. If Adam found out I switched sides he would have…"

"You place quite a bit of faith in this Adam," Saint says. "Are you sure he is as powerful as you think?"

"Compared to you…I'm not sure anymore. To be honest I was expecting to fight Blake…not you." She coughs again. "I guess I relied too much on that…" She hacks once. "I was scared that we wouldn't be strong enough to face the White Fang."

Blake shoots her a semi-offended look before smirking. "Ilia, we'll fight them together. The entirety of Kuo Kuana is behind us."

"…Really?" Ilia's expression seems to be a mix of shock and ponderation. "Then…I'll…I'll stand with you both." She reaches out her hand to Blake, who holds it tightly.

"I said you both," she repeats. Saint rolls his photoreceptors and reaches out his armored hand, stacking it on top of theirs.

"We'll be leaving in two weeks for Haven, are you sure you'll be ready?" Blake asks, worriedly.

"You bet."

/

_Mistral._

"Hey, Ruby…I have something you'll want to see," Qrow peeks his head to the group of Beacon students gathered around a table. "In fact, all you might want to see this." He waves his Scroll lazily in front of them.

"What is it, Uncle Qrow?" The youngest of them all, Ruby Rose puts down her cup and stands up. She stretches her body, after being stuck sitting for an hour or so for dinner.

"Sit down, I'll tell you all." He makes his way to them, opting to stay standing. "A couple of contacts have spotted an Atlas ship heading towards Mistral, landing at the now-closed Atlas Outreach office."

"What does that have to do with us, though?" Yang pipes in, leaning so she can be seen from behind Ruby.

"Let me finish," Qrow says. "A friend of yours stepped out with an unknown man." He shows them an image on his Scroll, depicting Weiss Schnee and a robed man stepping out the back of an Atlas Manta ship. "Your friend's here, and I haven't been able to figure out if that guy next to her is hostile or not."

"Well, let's go get her!" Ruby says, zipping away to find her weapon while the rest of the Beacon students stand up. "Qrow where did you leave my bullets!?" She calls out from somewhere else in the house.

"They should be on the kitchen table!" He says back.

. . .

The lower regions of Mistral were dark, damp and generally miserable. It's quite a difference compared to the upper levels. Qrow stays in his corvid form, perched on a roof and watching the muddy streets for any sign of Weiss Schnee. The Atlas Outreach building isn't too far from here; it's in the same block as some infamous Huntsmen and Huntresses.

A wooden door breaks, and a man comes flying out, hitting the wall of the building on the other side of the street.

That's the restaurant Shiro Wan had the massive debt to. A robed man carrying a white and sleek rifle steps out, with a floating…prism, over his shoulder.

"There are social cues that you should recognize," the man says. "My point being, leave her alone."

"Yeah, creep!" A female voice says, which seems to be coming from the floating shape. "Come on, let's go back inside, this rain is making me miserable."

Qrow flies off of the roof, diving down and then transforms back into his regular, human form. He slowly draws Harbinger, letting it slowly unfold into a scythe.

"Everyone, I have eyes on our target," he mumbles.

The robed man turns to face Qrow. "And who might you be?"

"I'm a Huntsman, and you're…accompanying a woman who my friends want to talk to," Qrow replies coolly.

"Really? Do you have any identification to prove so?" The man raises his rifle, the barrel pointed at his chest.

"Well…yeah," Qrow starts approaching, deliberately and slowly. He doesn't want to start a fight just yet. "She knows us, just trust me. Let's talk."

"Really…" The man fires first. Qrow reacts by deflecting the bullets.

"Osiris what are you-" Weiss Schnee steps out from the restaurant and immediately backpedals as a round digs into the ground at her feet.

He sees the swirl of Ruby's cape rapidly land behind the man, who seems to be called "Osiris." She lands and the frame of her weapon quickly readies itself into its gun setting.

"Buddy-" Qrow is interrupted as the man throws some kind of violent, pulsing purple ball at Ruby that seems to cave reality into itself when it lands. "Hey!" He yells as he kicks off of the ground to dash up to the man, intent on tackling him down. He doesn't hit anyone though, instead only throwing himself to the ground. A person lands on his back, forcing him into the mud.

Osiris hops and a very tiny burst of fire follows in his wake as he dashes himself away from Ruby, his boots smacking on the ground behind Qrow. He lets out another volley of rounds into Pipsqueak.

Ruby, in turn, uses her own Semblance to close the distance between them, and Crescent Rose unfolds into a scythe too. She does a battle cry as she swings her weapon at him. His palm strikes her away, while he steps back herself.

"Let Weiss go you creepy old man!" Ruby says, her face grave and somewhat agitated.

"You know her?" Osiris replies, in an almost too-calm manner. He lowers his gun.

"Yes!"

"Ruby!?" Weiss peeks her head out of the restaurant.

"Weiss!" Ruby's expression softens and joy quickly takes place instead. She stashes her weapon and lunges at Weiss for a hug. "It's been solongohmygodimissedyousomuch-"

Qrow stands up, wiping his shirt of as much mud as possible, and mumbles to himself about how much it would cost to clean it.

"Now can we talk?" He asks, earning a small nod from Osiris.

"INCOMING!" Yang cries out from far as the clunk of her shotguns gradually get closer. A bright yellow blur flying at an indescribably high speed heads straight towards Osiris. The robed man turns around.

Her fist is inches away from his face and looks quite ready to make contact.

"Yang, wait!"

The air turns electric.

* * *

**Now, for why I spared Ilia: Saint-14 is a compassionate Guardian. There is a lore entry about a Sekris, Baron of Shanks, who was spared by him during his crusade against the Fallen (this lore entry is found only in the Grimoire Anthology books). My interpretation of the character is of course different than others, and if you disagree, then power to you, but you won't like how the story plays out.**

**Also,**

**BEFORE ANYONE SAYS SOMETHING ABOUT GJALLARHORN, FEIZEL CRUX GAVE A GJALLARHORN TO THOSE WHO FOUGHT IN THE BATTLE OF TWILIGHT GAP. THERE ARE MULTIPLE GJALLARHORNS.**

**SAINT-14 WILL NOT BE USING GJALLARHORN IN THIS STORY BECAUSE IT WOULD BE THE SOLUTION TO EVERYTHING. WILL PROBABLY BE A CHEEKY JOKE LATER IN THE STORY.**

**Edit: Whew, went through every single chapter. Now I can continue writing.**


	10. Birds

**Sorry for the delay in the chapters. I was going through the last 9 and doing some corrections to them. Grammar, sentence structure and the like. **

**New Corridor of Time puzzle is pretty cool…hm.**

* * *

Osiris charges Arc in his palm and brings it out in a devastating strike to the blonde-haired woman's face. His hand moves just in time, preventing him from being punched and his face from being caved in. The Arc energy goes right into her, pushing thousands of amps through her body. She seizes mid-air and her next movements are a series of still images of her body contorting into ridiculous positions. At the same time, her screams jitter in levels and pitch.

Her words culminate into unfinished stammers before she falls to the floor. A small, dark smoke rises from her body, fizzling out. The air smells burnt and the electrostatic charge makes a few of Osiris' body hairs stand on edge.

"Ow…" the woman groans into the mud.

"I will be honest, that was an interesting trap you all have devised," Osiris says as he turns around. He expects to see that disheveled man with the mechanical scythe.

"Osiris watch out!" Sagira says, flying away from his head.

"What is it-" He fully turns around and all he sees is a pink blur carrying a giant hammer headed straight to him.

The next thing he feels is something crashing against his face as his body is batted into a concrete wall.

All he hears is, "Whoa, that is a home run!" before falling unconscious.

/

"Nora!" Jaune Arc catches up with her spunky and hyperactive orange-haired partner. "Why would you do that!?" He bends over, his hands on his knees. His lungs feel like they've been lit on fire, typical when running after Nora but every time it gets worse.

"What, we had a trap going!" Nora shrugs her shoulders and points the head of her Magnhild at the collapsed man who she smashed into a wall. "He never would have expected it coming!"

"Guys, did I miss something on the way here!?" His head scans side-to-side, stopping when he sees Weiss being viciously assaulted by Ruby's hugs. "Oh, hi Weiss!"

"Um, I'm kind of busy right now, but hello Jaune!" Weiss manages to squeak out, her cheeks puffed as she gets crushed by her younger friend's embrace.

"It'sbeensolongiwithoutyouhowiseverything-" Ruby's voice skips over itself, only accelerating in words per minute. When she will ever run out of breath, no one will know.

Once the heat of overexertion wears off, Jaune pushes out a relaxed breath. His torso lifts itself back to a straight position.

A sudden voice next to his head makes him squeal in terror. "You guys cave my Guardian's face in with a hammer and all you're doing is playing catch up!? What's wrong with you all!?" The flying prism makes a fuss while the sharp shapes floating around her single eye vibrate.

"Technically, we didn't-" Qrow attempts to but in.

"Oh you shut your mouth, look at him!" The prism jerks its body towards the fallen man, then towards Weiss. "Weiss, you know these people!?"

The Schnee girl manages to free herself from Ruby's grasp and holds the excited teenager back with an outstretched palm. "Yes Sagira, they're my friends." She smiles and giggles once. "They're…unique."

"I can tell," Sagira says, then groans. "And you're sure we can trust them?"

"Yes, they are good people, despite how some of them look."

"Hey, I heard that!" Qrow yells out, irritation very present. "Look, if you'll stop yelling we can get your guy back in good shape and we'll talk some more."

Sagira rolls her single eye. "I'll deal with him." She floats over to the fallen man. "His name's Osiris and I'm Sagira, in case he doesn't introduce himself."

"I wouldn't blame him." A mellow voice speaks from out of the blue. The prism makes a little hop in the air.

"And who are you!?" She snaps her body in the direction of Lie Ren. "And how did I not hear you coming?"

"Lie Ren, good to meet you Sagira." Ren smiles at Sagira. "And sorry about Nora…she's…"

"A bit over the top?"

Ren takes a moment to think, cocking his head sideways and raising an eyebrow. "Yeah, we can go with that."

Sagira sighs again then starts blasting Osiris with sky-blue rays. Jaune is once again startled, this time by the groan coming from the body.

"Why does my face feel numb?"

"Nora!"

/

_Mistral Safehouse._

"I really do have a hard time trusting you…Qrow," Osiris leans his back against a wall, scanning the very out-of-it man in the dirty gray dress shirt. The short stubble on his beard screams…alcoholic. "So, you have that orange-haired girl…Nora, hit me with her hammer, then you have the courage to ask for _my_ help. To _save_ the _world_, no less."

"Look, it's an important mission…I got Lien if you need it, tons of it," Qrow pats his pockets, presumably in search for whatever he mentioned. "Ah, damnit where did I…"

"Don't worry about it. Now Oscar," he turns to the boy holding the staff. Innocent looking, he shouldn't be hanging around with these people.

"Ozpin." Osiris raises an eyebrow when he hears the boy's voice change in pitch and tonality. It's a bit deeper now and enunciates more like a wise adult than a child.

"Wasn't your name Oscar a minute ago?" Sagira inquires, squinting her eye.

"Yes."

"…Does he suffer from dissociative identity disorder?" The Ghost looks to Qrow, who shakes his head.

"Not exactly…let's say there's an entire other spirit living in Oscar right now," the disheveled Huntsman says.

"You're only confirming that for me."

"Sagira, that's enough." Osiris crosses his arms. "So, what is this about a…Salem?"

"Ah yes, Salem." Ozpin looks to the floor, tapping his cane once. "She's our enemy. Humanity has been at war with her creatures since their creation. Our group is searching for a Maiden…the Spring Maiden."

The creaking of wood catches all their attentions. The red-haired girl is walking down the stairs.

"Oh—did I interrupt something important? I can leave if you guys are busy," she asks. "Did…Osiris forgive us yet?"

Qrow shakes his head. "You can come over, Ruby. About Osiris…not quite."

The first thing that comes to Osiris's mind about Ruby is…purity. She doesn't look like a Huntress. She contends for the status of youngest of them all but Oscar holds that title. He wonders if she knows what she's doing.

"Qrow, I didn't ask for you to speak for me," Osiris says, tracking Ruby. She walks down the steps and stands in front of the two seated men.

Qrow rolls his eyes. "Alright."

"Anyways…Ozpin, continue, you were at the Spring Maiden."

Ozpin hums. "Yes, the Spring Maiden. We have located her in a raiders' camp, Qrow if you will."

The taller one grumbles and takes out a flat device, a _Scroll_ and expands the screen to project a map. A red dot pulsates on the more southern side of Anima, with the label "SPRING MAIDEN" accompanying it.

"Hold on, that's around where we crashed!" Sagira exclaims, flying over to the map and scanning the device with an invisible beam.

"…Crashed?"

"We've encountered bandits who attempted to…kidnap Weiss and me," Osiris says. "We fended them off after I had to…deal with a member in front of their leader."

Qrow leans forward. "You've met Raven?"

"Yes, we did," Osiris mumbles. "She retreated before fully engaging."

"No shit?" Qrow slams his lips shut after noticing Ruby still standing in front of him. "Sorry about the language, kiddo."

"You know Raven?" Osiris asks.

"She's my sister."

"Really? Now that I think about it, you two do seem alike," Osiris muses. "Anyways, I've talked enough, if you need my aid, then I will be there."

Ozpin smiles. "That's good to know, Osiris. From Weiss' descriptions of your abilities, you will be a valuable member of our party."

"So he's in?" Ruby's smile shines bright as she bounds in joy and happiness. Her voice is squeaky and quite frankly, adorable.

"Sounds like it," Qrow says, glancing to Osiris, who shrugs in response. "Anyways, is there anything you needed, kiddo?"

"Oh, yeah, I had a few questions."

Osiris spends the rest of his time in the living room listening to Ruby's various questions.

"**_You can't deny that saving the world is a bit exciting!_**" Sagira exclaims.

"**_I was never in it for the excitement, Sagira._**"

"**_Oh come on, lighten up a bit, you'll be traveling the world, saving innocent lives and being a hero!_**"

A vibration sounds from someone's pocket. Qrow grumbles and takes out a flat device, a _Scroll_ and presses it to his ear.

"Mm…yeah?" He sighs. "Okay…yeah, we'll be there."

"Who was it?" Ruby asks.

"It was Leo, he said he had a breakthrough with the council," Qrow answers, unscrewing the cap of his flask. "He wants to meet up at the school tomorrow night to walk us through it."

Ruby gasps. "Really, oh that's great! I'll go get the others!"

Once the girl has disappeared from sight, Osiris chortles. "You don't sound too confident."

"The guy just made a full one-eighty from our original conversation," the Huntsman grumbles.

"We should be wary," Osiris suggests. "That is never a good sign."

"Leo is my good friend, I don't expect that he would betray us," Ozpin says, him at least sure of his answer.

"I will be the judge of that, I haven't met him yet."

"Is that the guy that electrocuted me!?" An angry female voice demands from around the kitchen area. Osiris turns his head to see the blonde-haired girl that he indeed did electrocute earlier staring at him with flared and intense eyes.

"Yang, come on, he's nice!" Ruby pleads, running all around the taller girl to get her to put her fists down.

"Would I have to worry about her?"

Qrow sighs and his head leans into his palm.

/

_Menagerie, Remnant._

It has been a week since the White Fang's attempted coup on the Belladonnas. Kuo Kuana is still reeling from the consequences of the attack.

Saint-14 sits on a bench faced towards the ocean. It sits on a wooden pier and flexes under his weight. A tree that is as tall as his head stands atop, providing some nice shade from the scorching sun. A few pigeons gather around at his feet and he feeds them with the tiny seeds in his plastic bag. He tosses the food at a regular pace and observes the little creatures feed, filled with a content silence.

"Good birds," he murmurs. He starts humming a familiar tune. A traditional one from a pre-Golden Age country, where the Cosmodrome is situated.

"Hey, Saint." He looks up and to the side. Ilia stands there, using a crutch to hold the right half of her body up. It's still injured but seems to have healed well, judging from the smaller amounts of bandages compared to a few days ago. His face plates organize a smile.

"Hello, Ilia." He gestures with his free hand for her to approach him. "Come, sit."

She does so and ends up on the bench beside him.

"What are you doing?" Ilia asks, looking at the pigeons with a perplexed expression. "You feed birds?"

"I'm fond of pigeons," he says. "Here, you try." He hands her the bag of seeds.

"Oh, no, I don't think I can-"

"Nonsense, it's only throwing seeds to where they can reach." He keeps the bag outreached to her. "It's relaxing, I promise."

Ilia sighs, and takes it from him. She struggles with creating an opening in the bag but eventually gets there. She starts tossing seeds, flicking her hand in a gentle manner. The tiny yellow and white dots land on the floor and the pigeons start gravitating towards them.

"I didn't come here to feed birds, you know," Ilia says, her attention elsewhere.

"You can do both, can't you?" He says, bending over to pick a pigeon up. His hands move with a graceful slowness. He has to be gentle now, they get scared when squeezed too hard. He grasps one in his palms and scoops it away from the floor, handling the creature with utmost care. Once it's close to his body, he removes one hand and starts petting it. "Ask whatever you need."

"I forgot what I wanted to ask you…" Ilia says and her voice drops to silence for a moment. She stares at the avian creature in his hands. "You can pick up birds? I could never do that."

"When you hold bird, you must be soft, gentle. It's not gun or…whip, sword, whatever it is," he says, his fingers brushing down the back of the pigeon's neck. Its feathers flatten at his touch.

"I've been told to keep a slack grip when using my weapon." Ilia puts down the bag of seeds to her side.

"But when you defend, you have to hold like a wall, correct? You become tense, harsh." He brings the bird over to her. "Open your palms. I will hand you the bird."

"Um, I don't think-"

"Try it."

"Oh my—fine." Her injured hand moves with rigidity, her shoulder like a gear that hasn't been oiled properly. She winces when bringing it in front and opening her bandaged palm. Saint slowly descends the pigeon in his hands and leaves it in hers. "Okay…now what?"

"It hasn't flown away yet, that's good." He smiles and gives the pigeon one last pet before removing his hands. "Try wrapping one hand around its back, softly of course."

"Um…like this?" She moves one hand and brings it over the pigeon. "Alright…"

"Now slowly…"

Her hand closes on the bird too quickly and it slips from her grip, flying away.

"Damnit."

"We can practice later, now what is it that you need?" He turns to her. She sighs and her gaze falls to her knees.

"I'm sorry for last week," she says. "I-I'm sorry for being like that. You were right all this time. Blake was right, too."

Saint's hand makes its way to her back and he pats it a few times. "Do you know Anna?"

"Anna…the weaponsmith? I think so." She tilts her head to the side.

"Before I entered the house, she confronted me last week with a big gun," Saint says. "I spared her because she was scared."

"I was kind of scared too, going up against you," Ilia mumbles. "I knew it was lost when I heard your voice in the room."

"And you still fought," he says, looking over to her. "You have my respect, though you still lost." He chuckles, his phonetic machinery translating it into a low, hearty rumble.

She hits him on the shoulder. "Shut up," she grumbles, frowning. "I still haven't talked to Blake much about this whole thing."

Saint stands up and picks Blake Belladonna out of the crowds. "She's here, let me bring her to you." He stands up.

"Wait—no!" She grabs his hand and tries tugs him back, only making him stop. "I…I'm not ready."

"Were you ready to almost die because of me? No. I'm going to get her." Saint pulls his hand away and places hers on her lap. "Now sit still and feed the birds."

Ilia rolls her eyes and sighs, her hand moving over to the bag of seeds.

Saint enters the crowd of Faunus, doing his best to make his way through without running into someone.

Among the many conversations all around him, a child's voice manages to ring through to him.

"Can you carry me on your shoulder?" The little boy's eager voice is hard to say no to. Saint chuckles and crouches, bringing one arm wide so he can scoop them up.

"Of course," he says, wrapping his arm around the boy and using the other to push him on his shoulder. "Better?"

"Yep, thank you Saint-Fourteen!" The child excitedly says, his face enthralled.

"I don't carry children for free, you know…" He laughs and looks to the kid. "First, you must tell me your name."

"Um…"

"Saint," Blake's voice pulls him away.

"Huh?"

"You carry children?" She asks, a smirk on her face.

"If they sing me a song of their people." He looks over to the boy with an expectant face. "And if their parents are-"

"Young man what are you doing!?" An angry father pushes through a gathering of people, his face beet red in anger. "Why did you run off like that!?"

"Uh oh," Saint says to himself.

"Dad—I want to talk to Saint-Fourteen!" The boy pleads, leaning forward. "Look, I'm on his shoulder!"

"I see that but we promised your brother that we'd watch him train!"

"But-"

"No buts!"

"Aw…"

Saint can't help but chortle. "Sorry child, but you best listen to your father now." He grabs the boy by the sides and puts them on the floor.

The father pulls his son by the ear back into the never-ending abyss that are crowds of people. They disappear before his very eyes.

Saint turns his attention to Blake again, who is now doubled over laughing.

"What?" He asks.

"You looked so guilty there!" She answers between fits of laughter.

"I did?" He furrows his metal brows at her. "I did not."

"I disagree." She takes a deep breath to relax. "Anyways, I wanted to know if you saw Ilia around."

"Ilia? Yes, she wanted to talk to you actually, follow me." He turns around, back towards the bench with the pigeons. He slips between whatever cracks that he can find in the massive amounts of the people that are present. If not, he stays respectful and gives a gentle push for them to move aside.

He finds Ilia with her uninjured arm outstretched and a handful of pigeons on it. Her eyes are wide and from the look she's giving him, she isn't comfortable with this at all.

"Um, Saint, a little help here?" She asks, cocking her head to the birds on her.

"They like you!" He grins.

"I didn't say I liked them back!" She says, her voice rapid and somewhat panicked.

"Ilia? You feed birds?" Blake emerges from behind Saint, standing at his side

"No! I don't!" A fluster appears on the chameleon-Faunus' face. "Saint told me to while he went to get you!"

"He said you wanted to talk to me," Blake says, looking at the whole scene confused. "Saint?"

Saint picks off a pigeon from Ilia's arm and holds it close to him. From its weight, he can tell it's the same one he picked up earlier. "Hm? Oh, yes. Ilia wanted to say something." He moves the rest down to floor-level, allowing Ilia to drop her arm to her side.

She sighs, closes her eyes and inhales deeply. "Blake, sit over here, it'll make it a lot less embarrassing."

"Um, okay." The cat-Faunus makes her way beside Ilia and turns to her on the bench. "So, what is it?"

"I'm…I'm sorry about last week," Ilia says, sorrowful and low. "And…thank you for saving my life. I didn't think you would still care for me after-oh!"

Blake wraps her in a tight hug, holding her there for a good few minutes.

"Oh…this…this is nice, thanks, Blake," Ilia mumbles over Blake's shoulder.

Saint steps away to give them some space.

He looks to the sea and wonders what lay ahead.

/

_Haven Academy._

Osiris strides into Haven Academy's grand hall while Sagira blabs on about the entire history of the school.

The main thing that interests him is the CCT tower outside, as it's powered by a mix of Vex and Atlas technology. It seems to be in a serial connection with the other towers. According to Qrow, one of them are down, which means all of them are too.

The place is grand, he has to admit.

"Why hello," professor Lionheart's meek voice barely reaches his ears. The headmaster stands on a podium above a statue of a woman holding it up that's joined together by two spiraling staircases at both sides.

"**_He's a bit nervous for someone who is supposed to be a great Huntsman,_**" Osiris thinks.

"**_Something's off. Look on the top right corner of the room. On the railing—there's a raven._**" He glances to the indicated position and does indeed make out a black bird perched on top of a wooden railing.

"**_Is this supposed to be symbolizing something?_**" He asks.

"**_We haven't seen a single raven in Mistral._**"

"**_Interesting…_**"

"Thank you for, erm, coming. There…seems to be more of you than last time," Lionheart says, his voice wavering towards the end of the sentence.

"You know what they say, the more the merrier," Qrow says, stepping in front of Osiris. "So what's going with the council?"

"Why…did you bring your weapons?" The professor's question is very odd.

More like suspicious.

Qrow also seems to be confused. "What? Leo, we're Huntsmen, you okay?"

Osiris notices Yang Xiao Long trying to make something out.

"…You don't strike me as the type to have a pet raven, professor." Osiris looks to the sitting raven.

"…Mom?" Yang says. Qrow draws his weapon and a shotgun blast later, a woman in a osseous helmet is beside Lionheart.

"**_Raven,_**" Sagira mumbles.

Osiris unslings the Monte Carlo and points it at her.

Raven takes off her helmet. "If you're going to shoot me, shoot me, that was insulting." She starts walking down one of the two stairways.

"What are you doing here!?" Qrow yells, disturbed.

"I could ask you the same thing, you've been scheming little brother."

"**_He's the little brother!?_**" Sagira says, flabbergasted.

"Planning to attack your own sister!"

"Leo, what have you done!?"

"I…" Lionheart tries to say something, but is cut off. The guilt on his face is visible.

"Leo did what any sane person would do in his position—he looked at all the information he had in front of him, assessed the situation, and made a choice." Raven says. The professor closes his eyes and looks away. "And it seems you all have too."

Her gaze points to Osiris. "You made your choice days ago by crossing my tribe and I expect to get payback."

"You seem awfully confident that you _will_ get your payback," Osiris says. "Some debts should remain uncollected, Raven."

"Both of you, enough." Qrow steps in. "You have the Spring Maiden."

"I do." Raven glares at her brother.

"Then hand her over and let's work together! We can beat Salem!" Qrow exclaims, almost pleading.

"All that time spent spying for Ozpin and you still have no idea what you're dealing with. There is no beating Salem!"

"**_I would disagree,_**" Osiris thinks.

"**_Yeah, Guardians pumped Oryx full of bullets and Light and he died, who's to say that she's any stronger?_**" Sagira ponders.

"You're wrong," Ruby Rose's high voice makes Raven turn. "We've done things that most people would call impossible, and I know the only reason we were able to do it because we didn't do it alone!"

"**_She's right, you know,_**" Sagira comments. "**_You had her there._**"

"_**She only answered my pleas for help because she is gracious like that. Besides, m**_**_y echoes count as other people._**"

"We had people to teach us, people to help us, we had each other. Work with us, at least I know we'll have a better chance if we try together, please." Ruby holds her hands out.

"She is optimistic, I'll give her that," Osiris mumbles, keeping his weapon trained on Raven.

"You sound just like your mother." Raven draws her own and he fires. She deflects the burst, and a swirling crimson portal opens to her side.

A fireball comes out of it and strikes Ruby in the chest, sending her flying back.

"Hello boys and girls," an insidious female voice says.

* * *

**To reviewer MungoJerry: I'll pass your feedback to the team.**

**Just kidding. I appreciate you taking the time to highlight the issues in my writing in the last three chapters. I love listening to the praises people have about how I write Saint-14, or how the story is developing, but this type of constructive criticism is the most important for me. It helps me evolve as a writer and understand what a reader is seeing when reading my fiction.**

**So, thanks again.**

**To other reviewers: Don't let this discourage you from expressing that you like my story, I love reading those too.**


	11. No Safe Haven

**Approaching the end of season 5. Excited to get into the new content!**

**Only Guardians that are going to be in this story are Saint-14 and Osiris. I will tie in some Hive with Remnant too, but that's for later chapters.**

**Also, I think anyone would get knocked out by a giant hammer coming at them at uncountable speed.**

**And to be fair, Saint-14 probably headbutts anything. In that one cutscene where he's exiting the Infinite Forest, he headbutts a single Vex Minotaur multiple times.**

* * *

Saint-14 leans over the boat's railing, letting air enter the vent ports of his helmet. It passes through the back of his neck, cooling it with a nice, cold draft.

The ocean is beautiful. A pigeon lands on the railing, staring at him with its small, bulging eyes.

"Oh no, no, how did you end up here?" He mumbles, scooping the little creature into his hands. "You're far from home."

"Maybe it wants to discover Mistral," Blake says from beside him. He looks to his right and there she is, also looking at the faraway horizon, where the sun is close to disappearing. "We're a few hours out, get ready to knock some skulls together." She smirks and exhales, her breath forming a mist.

"Any priorities I should be aware of?" He huffs and pets the pigeon.

"Don't kill anyone. You'll be in the advance duo with Ilia, give her cover while she disables bombs, if there are any." Blake's demeanor turns serious and the whole air around her gets dark. "If Adam's there, he'll be violent, you can hand it back to him. If you get overwhelmed, there's no shame in backing up."

"Understood." He pauses. "They'll see the power of the Light."

"…Light?" She says. "You mean your semblance?"

"If that is what explains it best for you, then yes, my…semblance." Saint feels weird for saying that word. Wrong, dirty; it's the Light, not whatever she just said. "In other words, Adam will _feel _it. I only hope he's as powerful as you describe."

"Saint, I think you're underestimating him…" He brings his hand up and shakes his head.

"Nonsense, I've destroyed armies before, what more is another—oop!" He almost drops the pigeon.

"Is _he _gonna stop Adam with you too?" Blake gazes to the bird then her eyes flicker back to Saint. Someone hops in from behind.

"Saint carries birds around?" Sun asks as he looks over Saint's shoulder. "That's pretty cool, knowing that he has a secret soft side behind all the robot macho and toughness."

The Titan looks at him confused. "What?"

"Ah, nevermind." Sun forces a smile and a fake laugh. His posture stiffens. "Please don't break my legs, or any of my precious, precious bones."

"You seriously think that breaking your bones is worthy of my time?" Saint turns to him.

"Okay, I'll just leave. Please don't hurt me!" The monkey-Faunus runs off to somewhere on the boat, out of sight.

"Is he always like that?" Saint looks at Blake.

"Yes, he is," Blake replies, her lips a flat line. "It helps to lighten the mood sometimes, other times it's…unbearable."

"He reminds me of Cayde, and not in a good way."

"Cayde?"

"An old acquaintance, he has the same…impulsiveness, like Sun," Saint replies. "Quite a bit funnier, too."

"I think Sun is pretty fun to have around," Blake says. "He's a good friend."

"You two are very different." The pigeon flies to Saint's shoulder and perches on top. "Lessons could be learned."

"He's taught me a good few."

"Hey, Saint, you ready?" Ilia calls out from behind him. He turns around and is close to gasping at how she looks.

She doesn't look any different from before the attack!

"Ilia, your recovery…"

"Miracle, isn't it? Though my depth perception could be a bit…better." She points at the black bandanna wrapping around her head, covering her right eye. "Couldn't save my eye."

"Oh…I'm sorry," Saint looks down in shame.

"Don't be. I learned my lesson." Ilia walks to the railing and looks out to the sea. "We'll head out once the ship docks. Try not to get too popular, alright?"

Saint laughs. "That will be afterward."

/

Osiris charges a Blessing grenade and tosses it to Ruby. The healing charge provides her an extra layer of protection. Jaune seems to get a flash of inspiration and looks at his hands that emanate a very faint pulse.

"Who is she?" Osiris mumbles to himself.

"Cinder…" Ruby says with a great deal of anger.

Four other people come out of the portal. One being a brown-skinned and amber-haired woman with…revealing clothing. Another being Raven's right-hand woman. The third being a woman with her hair covering one eye in a long, form-fitting red dress. The last one is a man wearing a gray outfit, topped with gray hair.

The man in gray snorts and grins at them. "Come on guys, is that any way to greet your old friends?" His sarcastic tone indicates cockiness.

The doors behind them swing open, scraping against the floor. A tall beast of a man wearing an olive-green coat that extends to his legs steps in. He's the tallest person Osiris had ever seen and Sagira estimates him to be about 2.5 meters in height.

He overhears Oscar mumbling something to himself.

"**_He's even taller than Saint-Fourteen!_**" Sagira remarks.

The man closes the doors and keeps his back turned to them. "The White Fang are prepping demolition and securing the school grounds." He turns around, revealing his surprisingly clean face, with only a brown beard on him. "No one's getting in, and no one's getting out." His voice is gravelly, coming out as a very low rumble.

Another voice calls out something indistinct outside.

"We've been led into a trap," Osiris states, turning back to Raven. "Are these all part of your tribe too, Raven?"

Raven scowls at him.

"And who might you be, old man?" Cinder snickers, her soft voice emphasizing her mistress look. "Another one to add to the list?"

"People know me as Osiris," he says, loading a fresh magazine into his rifle. "Raven has met me before, ask her."

The robed woman glances at Raven.

"He won't be much trouble," the black and crimson dressed Raven mumbles, through gritted teeth.

"**_Osiris, look at Cinder's arm! It's part Grimm!_**" Sagira says, and he looks at the limb. It's covered by a wide sleeve but he feels the energy emanating from it. "**_I'm sensing some Hive magic in it, your Light might be able to burn it away!_**"

"**_That's good to know…_**" Osiris pulls the Monte Carlo's slide and raises it to Cinder.

"Raven, tell me…how long have you been with them?" Qrow says, his hands curling into fists.

"Aw…don't take it personally, little bird." Cinder's voice is mocking, confident. "Your sister was a recent addition. The lion on the other hand…Entrance into the Vytal Festival was a real treat. Leonardo's been sending Salem all sorts of information for a very, very long time. Isn't that right, professor?"

Lionheart closes his eyes in humiliation.

"So, he sold us out?" Osiris says.

"You…you sit on the Mistral Council, you had information on every Huntsman and Huntress in the Kingdom, and you gave it all to her?" Qrow is appalled, disgusted.

"I-"

"I couldn't find any of them, because you let her kill them!"

"Seems like he missed one," Cinder snarks, sneering at Osiris.

He scoffs. "Don't make me laugh."

Little tears drop to the floor. Jaune Arc's body shakes in dismay and hatred. "What is wrong with you?" His voice wavers. "How can you be so broken inside…to take so many lives, and then come here and rub it in our faces like it's something to be proud of!?"

"Don't do anything stupid," Osiris glances over to the enraged boy.

"All with that _damn_ smile on your face!" Tiny streams of tears flow from his eyes.

Metal rubs together and weapons click as everyone draws their weapons.

"Everybody, stay calm!" Qrow's attempt to de-escalate fails.

"I'm gonna make you pay for what you did! Do you hear me!?" Jaune's feet look prepared to rush at her.

Cinder only glares at him. "And who are you again?"

The boy's face falters and transforms into one of pure rage. His longsword widens and his other hand holds onto the bottom half of the hilt.

Osiris fires again. Cinder deflects the bullets with a molten scimitar before parrying Jaune's two-handed swing.

"**_Seems like bullets won't be enough,_**" Osiris thinks. He twirls and summons forth his Solar Light into a Dawnblade. Wings of fire appear at his back and he soars into the air.

"Osiris!" A voice calls from below him. "We have a grudge to settle."

He turns around and looks down. It's the short-haired woman that accompanies Raven.

"Raven must be so very proud of you, lackey," Osiris hums as he glances over to Jaune dueling Cinder.

"**_They'll be fine…I hope,_**" Sagira says.

Osiris dashes to evade a few bullets and swings once.

"Vernal, be careful!" Raven says as she clashes with Qrow.

"Well, Vernal…I'm sorry we have to meet this way." Osiris performs a Phoenix Dive, planting his sword into the ground. A wave of flames pulses around him. Vernal traps his blade between her crescent-shaped blades and grins when she locks them in place. He Icarus Dashes backward and does a back flip, throwing the woman over himself before dashing once more to create distance. She reorients and fires a set of yellow beams at him, missing by a hair. She lands on her feet and transfers the momentum to lunge at him.

"And I don't recall having a grudge with you, but to your superior," he says, parrying her jabs with relative ease. "Is Raven too scared to fight me?"

"Don't you fucking-agh!" She takes an arc of fire to her chest and falls backward.

His flame extinguishes and she stands up, dusting herself off.

"What, is that it?" She smirks. "You're done already?"

"No, I'm only preparing my lesson in nuclear fission." Reality bends into itself and Void energy consumes the entirety of his body. His body begins floating. "A trial by fire."

"What the-" Vernal jumps away when he teleports in an erratic, zig-zag motion towards her. Meanwhile, he charges a Void charge between his clasped palms. He releases and swings his arms away from himself, letting his body release the energy. Vernal doesn't stop to fight and continues to flee.

He manages to chase her into a wall and readies himself to destroy her at the atomic level. The charge begins, and he's about a Blink or so away from being in range. A zip and he unleashes the energy.

Raven blocks the force with her crimson sword. A few few bits of her weapon crumble away and it loses its smooth look. She pushes him back, yelling with all her might.

"You wanted to fight me!? Well, _here I am._" She flies at him with impossible speed.

/

"You alright down there?" Ilia asks. Saint-14 rolls his metal neck, hearing satisfying cracks. He uses a downloaded map of Haven Academy to navigate towards the CCT tower.

"I'm fine," he says.

His first contact with the White Fang comes in the form of a lone guard with a cat's tail.

"H-hey! What are you doing here!?" The woman demands him, raising her pistol. "We have an intrude-" She tries to speak into the Scroll hanging on her chest.

A swift punch to her face cracks her mask and sends her to the floor.

"Emily, what is it? Emily?" He hears the device vibrate, and he snatches it from the body, crushing the flat device with a _crunch_.

He advances, looking up to the CCT tower that is in style with the rest of the academy. It all screams pre-Golden Age Earth. It looks like a lighthouse with two ropes connected to anchor points on the floor.

He wants to admire the architecture but is rudely pulled away from his reverie. Two more White Fang goons approach him with weapons pointed.

Saint blinks once and doesn't let them speak before slamming the floor with an Arc charged fist. The ground shakes and they stumble. He grabs their heads and knocks them together. They both drop to the ground without a word. He advances and notices red blinking dots littered all over the support beams of the tower.

"I see bombs. All over the tower," Saint murmurs.

"Roger, I'm moving in." The sound of air whooshing through the communications link. "Heh, whoops."

"And what do we have here?" A male, somewhat unmatured voice cries out to him. It sounds like he's caught with a permanent rough throat. "Another lost Huntsman?"

"Not exactly lost," Saint replies, squinting to see a man in a bone Grimm mask and black-and-grey jacket standing with his arms wide. A grin grin on his face can be barely made out beneath the night-time lighting.

"If you're not lost, then you must be here to try to stop us?" That must be Adam Taurus. A few steps closer and the boldness in his facial expression is clear.

"Your actions do match her descriptions of you," Saint cries back, still on approach.

"_Who's_ descriptions…?" Adam Taurus puts a hand on something hanging from his waist.

"You've been looking for her. She's sent a messenger." The Perfect Paradox materializes in his hands, and he pushes the slide back. "Me." A shotgun shell bounces on the floor.

The White Fang leader starts laughing. "So, she's too scared to fight me herself, that she has to hire Huntsmen to go after me?" He cackles some more. "And ones that are crazy enough? Her parents must have a lot of money."

"I'm putting an end to your evil. You'll know me by Saint-Fourteen."

Taurus scoffs. "Kill him." A group of about twelve White Fang trooper emerge at his sides, wielding all sorts of weaponry. Six carrying melee weapons do a battle cry as they begin to rush him. Those with guns start shooting.

Saint does away with Perfect Paradox and summons his Sentinel Shield. His body boils with Void Light and he makes sure to tone down the strength. His free hand grabs a troop holding a longsword by the vest and throws them into another goon. He grabs both by their heads and bashes them together. They collapse like bowling pins.

A staff snaps down towards his shoulder but he blocks the strike with his forearm and backs up. He spins and throws the shield at an angle to the floor. It recoils back up and strikes the staff's wielder in the stomach before bouncing away and tracking another. Someone he hasn't even seen yet cries out in pain and then slumps over with a _thump_.

Two more down.

Saint blocks the gunfire bouncing off of his armor with his shield. He grabs another brawler and headbutts them in the face, letting them go as soon as he makes an impact. They spin around and around before falling over with a low moan.

The last one looks at his fallen comrades then throws his baton down and runs.

A shotgun blast rings out. All other gunfire stops. The White Fang member falls, a sizeable hole in their head.

Saint looks to Adam, who is holding an old-style rifle in one hand. A white smoke trail is coming from the barrel. In the other is a red sword which he points to the side.

_What is it with these people and outlandish weapon designs?_ Saint thinks, shaking his head.

"And you expect people to rally behind you? Faunus, look at your leader!" Saint glares at Adam. "Willing to shoot his own kind!"

"The White Fang have no tolerance for cowardice, you hear me!? We're going to make the humans pay for they've done to us!" Adam brings his forearm up, closing his fist with an angry scowl on his face.

"If you want to make humans pay, then you will have to fight me, coward," Saint seethes. He points at Adam with his index finger, then back to himself.

Taurus chuckles, and grins. "So be it. You're not the first to try and kill me." He sheathes his sword into his rifle.

Saint will have to ask Blake about that sometime later.

"You are correct but you haven't fought someone your size yet," Saint grumbles, pointing his shield at the Taurus. "You prey on those at their most vulnerable and twist them for your own selfish purposes. You have no value as a warrior, you're only a cheat and a fake."

Adam growls and dashes at him, placing both hands at the hilt of his sheathed sword. Saint stands ready and brings his shield up when he notices the weapon's back end coming at him like a bullet. It bounces off like rubber.

If Saint could take a picture of the shock in Adam's face, he would have taken it a million times over. He bashes the man to his fallen sword.

"Tell me…have you met a Titan before?" His Void Light bubbles.

/

Osiris moves backward in his Nova Warp, keeping the same zig-zag movement in his short Blinks. Raven pursues him with murder in her eyes.

He recalls the Void Light back to him and his form returns to normal. He blinks upwards as she lunges at him while swinging her sword and puts his energy into a massive Nova Bomb.

Raven isn't fast enough to evade and takes the brunt of the explosion. She is sent spiraling away but manages to land without issues.

"Raven!" Vernal calls out to her as she starts rushing up to her leader.

"Deal with the Schnee! I have him covered!" Raven glowers at Osiris and dashes to him. He Icarus Dashes and strikes her shoulder with his Celestial Fire. Her clothing singes and burns away.

She turns and slashes at him with enough force to push him away. Using his moment of vulnerability, she pushes off to deliver a straight kick to his stomach. His boots grind against the floor underneath the carpet.

"As I said, some debts should remain uncollected," Osiris says, charging a Handheld Supernova. He throws it at her when it primes, only for it to come right back at him. He's caught by surprise and takes several slashes to the chest. His lost vitality is replenished by a Blessing grenade that he consumes in his palm.

"I can go at this all day, Raven." He stretches his arms for good effect. "A little warmup does well, no?" His wings of fire expand at his back. He soars in the air and draws his Dawnblade once more.

Raven smirks, sheathes her sword and slaps a wheel at her waist. She rushes up to him, drawing an ice-blue blade. Their swords clash and Osiris realizes his own's flame is dying.

"For someone so smart, you don't seem to understand basic science," Raven snarks as she presses into the attack and shatters his creation of Light.

"I will admit that I didn't expect that," Osiris says as he dashes backward and stumbles as she freezes his wings. He descends and converts the Solar Light into Arc Light. A spark traverses between his fingers. "Do you keep a wheel of swords to go through?"

"**_It looks like it. She's carrying a wheel of blades, you can say she's the…two-pi of swords,_**" Sagira bursts into giggles.

Osiris rolls his eyes.

Raven readies her sword. Air swirls at her feet as she prepares to propel herself down to him.

"NOOOOOOOOO!" Ruby cries out and everything goes white for a brief moment.

"**_That was…Light!_** **_Pure, unfiltered, Light!_**" Sagira says.

"**_Interesting…_**"

Osiris' attention shifts towards Cinder and Jaune. The woman falls to her knees, trying to clutch her missing arm, or more specifically, her shoulder stump. The naïve knight rushes her and thrusts his sword into her face, chipping off a corner of what looks like a glass mask. He stumbles forward and falls.

Cinder stands back up and the corner of her eye flares orange. She flips Jaune to his back and stands on his stomach.

"Did you think you actually had a chance against me?! _You!?_" She pauses and calms herself. "You're just a failure with a death wish."

A blur passes by as Raven lands a punch to the back of his head, distracting him from the current situation. He snarls and returns with a ball of lightning that shocks her in the head.

It's a tit-for-tat situation. He isn't affected by her attack, she isn't perturbed by his.

"No…" Jaune says as he rolls his body, watching Cinder throw a spear.

Osiris tries to snuff it out with Solar Light, but it phases right through and impales Weiss in the abdomen.

"NOOO!"

/

"Come on, Taurus, you haven't seen this before!?" Saint repels Adam's charged swing with a well-timed Suppression grenade.

"What…the fuck are you!?" Adam yells between pants. "This isn't possible, it's not…" Saint's fist makes contact with his nose, sending the man flying backward, he tumbles and rolls on the ground before stopping at quite a distance away.

Saint closes the gap in a few seconds. A voice from inside the grand hall of Haven Academy makes him pause.

"OZPIN!" The voice bellows, still audible through the building's walls. "YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD HIDE FROM ME!?"

"Now, as much as I would love to end your life, Adam, I feel that you should understand the pain that you've caused. Blake is coming, she'll deal with you." Saint pats the fallen warrior's head and rushes towards the grand hall.

His boots clack against the floor and the sounds of fighting grow louder.

"You'll pay for what you did," a rough, gravelly voice says. "You'll die, over, and OVER AGAIN!"

Saint doesn't waste time to kick the massive doors open.

One side is a group of…teenagers including a robed person surrounding a girl in a white dress. On the other is an absolute monster of a man chasing after a little boy and what looks to be his drunken uncle.

The giant man has crystals stabbed into his forearms and they crackle with yellow energy.

"Leo, open the pad to the vault!" A woman says as an older man puts a pocket watch into a statue at the center of two spiraling staircases that join together into a podium.

"What have I stumbled upon…" Saint mutters.

"I can keep her stable, Jaune, I saw something flash in your arms, you can help her!" A familiar-sounding Ghost says. "Wait…I'm detecting another Guardian signature!"

A prism flies up and its single blue eye makes contact with his photoreceptors.

"Osiris," the Ghost says. "You'll want to see this."

"OSIRIS!?" Saint-14 bellows as he sees his old Warlock friend stand up and face him.

"Saint-Fourteen!?"

* * *

**2pi in radian is 360 degrees.**

**Next chapter wraps up season 5 and begins season 6.**

**I don't know if you can already tell, but Salem is super-fucked.**


	12. Reunited

**Alright, there are some things I should clarify.**

**Raven survived the Nova Bomb because she is a Maiden. If it was any other character they would have been obliterated.**

**Osiris is just holding back. :)**

* * *

Saint-14 can't believe the signals his photoreceptors are giving him. He tries to speak but his brain can't send the information to his voice box. He stammers a few times and only manages to catch his own breath in his throat.

"Saint, we will get to introductions later, help Oscar!" Osiris points to the farm boy fending off a towering man.

Saint nods once before stomping his foot, making the ground shake. He starts with a march before accelerating into a full-on sprint. Arc crackles into his arms as air rushes past in the edges of his peripheral vision.

The taller man gets smacked in the side by the boy's cane, sending him on his knees. A yellow spark traverses into the floor, dissipating. The man turns his head once Saint is maybe half a foot away from him.

Arc concentrates in Saint's knee, the limb making direct contact with the side of the man's face. A small explosion of electricity makes a shockwave, blowing away anyone in the immediate range around him.

A massive body gets sent flying through a wooden pillar and a wall. There is now a sizeable hole that leads to another dark hallway.

The boy climbs onto his feet, dusting his knees and looks at Saint. "I don't know who you are, but I appreciate the assistance." His voice is too mature for what looks like a farmhand at most. "For now, you can call me Ozpin, but this body also belongs to an Oscar." His eyes shine yellow and his head snaps in the direction of two doors being crushed to the floor.

Saint pretends to understand and shakes his head to stash the thought. "And he is?"

"Hazel Rainart. He has a…hatred, for me," Ozpin says, twirling his staff. Hazel roars and punches the floor, sending a shockwave strong enough to push Saint back a half-step.

"What, another one of your blind troops!?" Hazel yells, his voice distorted. He swings twice at Saint, intent on grabbing his head. The Titan ducks and rolls to the left, charging his outer leg and delivering a roundhouse kick to Hazel's back. The side of his boot makes good contact, sending the target stumbling forward.

Hazel roars again, the volume of his voice making the air around him tremble. His fingers curl into fists as he glares at Saint-14 before turning his head to Ozpin.

"Hiding behind the face of a CHILD! A monster like you must be stopped!" Hazel yells. "How many more are going to die for you!?" He charges at Saint.

Saint puts one foot back, leans forward and raises his arms to shoulder level. He growls and lets out a cry as his hands wrap around Hazel's fists. The latter is charged with electricity, making Saint's body tense as the energy course through his armor and into his frame. The Titan holds strong. He pushes with the exact same force and doesn't sacrifice one step of ground.

Hazel twists one hand in a sharp way, Saint doesn't expect the move and lets go with a wince. A hand punches his neck and something hisses. A small armor latch clinks once against his armor before falling to the floor.

Saint blinks a few times, still registering what just happened. His helmet loosens and the seal around his head disappears. He unlatches the last few locks on the other side and holds the piece of armor by the mohawk.

His eyes flicker to Hazel, then to his helmet.

His vision tints red and he takes a step forward. Everything goes silent, everyone's attention looking like it's on him. His body sparks with an angry storm of Arc. He breaks out into a full-on sprint.

"RRAGH!" He yells as he swings his helmet at Hazel's face, hitting him in the cheek. He swipes to the left, smacking away an attempted jab. "Now you've made a mistake!"

Saint grabs Hazel's arm and pulls him forward. He smashes his helmet into the center of the forearm, not getting a snapping sound, which is confusing. He is punched in the nose but doesn't flinch. His face returns a glare as his rage flares.

The enraged Titan headbutts the taller man's face and follows up with a knee to the stomach. He drops his helmet and wraps both his hands around the captured arm. He starts spinning in place, lifting Hazel into the air and roars when he lets go, sending his enemy closer to the entrance. He scoops his helmet in one hand, his fingers locking as his grip is almost stronger than the mechanics inside can provide.

Saint stomps towards the fallen man, carrying his helmet. "You don't react to pain. Perhaps you don't feel it. I don't need to hurt someone to kill them."

Hazel slowly gets up, scowling and revealing gritted teeth. A distorted roar later and the two charge at each other, both furious and murderous towards one another.

Before they make contact, a young woman with orange hair jumps onto Saint's shoulders and does a flip. Her giant hammer starts to descend onto Hazel's head. He grabs her mid-air and slams her to the floor, sending a large shock of electricity into her body. Saint uppercuts his chin with his helmet and kicks him in the stomach.

Hazel snarls when he falls to his back. He tries to get up but a charged slam keeps him down. Saint gets on his knees, locking Hazel's torso in place and raises his helmet into the air.

Saint-14 smashes it down and blood splatters. He's thrown back outside, flipping over and skidding on the floor a few feet.

Hazel stands up, his movements slow and deliberate. Still has some fight in him, it seems. He reaches into the pouches at his legs and takes out two red crystals.

"Oh he doesn't need to feel pain, he just needs to GO DOWN!" A female voice says from behind Hazel. The orange-haired woman sprints to him, with electricity coursing through her bones, and swings her hammer into Hazel's back, sending him soaring into the airs. The crystals clink against the floor, rolling to Saint's feet.

"I like you," Saint says as he watches the body blend in with the night-sky before landing behind him. He crouches to pick up the two glass-like crystals and stashes them away soon after.

A siren rings out. The spiraling of rotors is heard over top. A few rotor powered aircraft that look like boats circle around above.

Blake's militia must have arrived.

"Adam Taurus! This is the Mistral Police Force!" A woman says from above. "Lower your weapons and surrender _peacefully!_" A spotlight passes through the area.

/

A siren stops everyone in their tracks. Osiris looks up and sees a blinding light pass through the windows.

A black-haired woman with cat ears in a white coat steps into the building. Yang and Ruby turn around. They stop, their facial expressions indicating mild shock.

Osiris blinks a few times to confirm that he is indeed seeing cat ears on a person.

"_**Faunus,**_" Sagira says.

"_**That is…certainly intriguing,**_" Osiris replies, his mental voice a mumble.

Ruby turns back around. "Yang, go!" She points towards the elevator that opened up when Lionheart put his stopwatch in the statue that held up his podium.

"Old man, with me!" Yang yells as she runs past the emerald-haired woman and the gray man.

"Is she referring to me?" Osiris asks.

"Who else would she be referring to?" Sagira says, snickering.

Osiris rolls his eyes and uses a burst of energy to give him enough speed to follow the blonde-haired fighter down the elevator shaft. He kicks the grey man away, who's now holding her prosthetic arm.

The fall takes a few seconds, the tunnel getting progressively darker. Once he lands, dust kicks up all around him.

In front is a single pathway in the center of what looks like a large chasm. An orange doorway sits in front of a mountainous tree with glowing orange dots scattered all over the leaves. They seem to be the only sources of light in this room.

"Incredible…" Osiris mutters as his feet land.

A cry of pain and the squelching of flesh. His gaze is pulled to Cinder holding a molten scimitar in a fallen Raven's stomach.

"Mom!" Yang cries out, reaching her single arm out.

Cinder looks up and grimaces. It replaces itself with a pompous grin when she makes eye contact with Osiris.

"If it makes you feel any better, she tried harder than I expected," the woman says, removing her blade from Raven. She backs up a few steps and points it at Yang. "You want to join her? I promise it'll be quick."

"Maybe you'll be the one to join her," Osiris says as he lets out a small Nova Bomb that has a parabolic trajectory. It lands next to Cinder, the shockwave strong enough to push her to the side. The Warlock rises into the air and channels his Light.

A blinding, white beam that takes over his entire field of vision shoots out of his palm. He feels a bead of sweat roll down his forehead.

Once it's finished, Cinder is gone, nowhere to be seen. Osiris lands on his feet and exhales.

"Haven't used that much Light in a while!" Sagira points out.

Osiris takes a deep breath. He pushes it out slowly. "I could have gone longer."

"Don't sweat it," she says.

Yang helps him up before walking over to her mother, who is still breathing, although quite ragged.

"Mom…" she mumbles, kneeling and bringing Raven to a sitting position. "Are you alright?"

Raven coughs blood into her daughter's shirt. "I'm…I'm fine," she rasps out. "If I die here…"

"It's alright, mom…you went through a lot today," Yang says, shutting her eyes.

"Thanks…for…showing up, so Cinder wouldn't have gotten it…"

"Mom…?"

"Osiris…he's strong…stronger than I…thought." Raven coughs some more. "Keep an…eye…on him."

"Is she dying?"

Yang snaps her head to Osiris. "What does it look like!?"

He sighs and walks up to the two. His Dawnblade materializes in his hand and Raven reaches one arm out.

"No…!" She coughs some more and lets out a weak pulse of ice from her hand.

"Relax woman," Sagira says.

Osiris brings the sword down close to Raven's body, stabbing the floor and creating a golden pool of healing Light. "His type is normally reserved for support purposes, but you've seen what they can do."

"What is…" Raven's voice now has more animosity to it, no longer a quiet rasp. "What's happening?"

"He's healing you, dummy," Sagira says, in her matter-of-fact voice that she uses to speak with Osiris most of the time.

"Don't kick her while she's down, Sagira," Osiris mutters, reaching a hand out to Raven. She turns her head to her daughter. "I could have obliterated you if I felt like it, Raven. You've been let off easy."

"Why, though? Why go easy?" Raven's voice is laced with disbelief.

"Because you have a daughter to speak to." Osiris turns to Yang and steps away, showing his palms.

"We're here for the relic," Yang says, helping her mother up. "You can open the vault. Just hand it over to us and we won't see each other again."

"The relic…you don't want to have it, Yang," Raven looks to the floor and sighs. "Salem is going to go after you."

"I know, and you know that too, so why do you want it?" Yang asks. "I know you're scared of Salem, so why grab something that will just put a target on your back?"

"I…" Raven's at a loss for words.

"Is it because you think it'll protect you? That you'll be able to run from her just a bit longer with it?"

"Yang…"

Raven opens the vault door by pressing her palm against it. It splits into multiple parts, entering a seam inside the doorway and revealing a golden lamp standing floating in a desert. She stands aside for her daughter. "Take it. Don't say I didn't warn you."

"You know, it would be great if we had more information about this Salem figure you're all so spooked about," Sagira says, looking at Raven. "Care to explain, Raven?"

She chuckles with somberness. "You don't know what you're getting into, Osiris. Salem is Oryx's pet project."

"Oryx?" Osiris tilts his head and raises one eyebrow. "He's been-"

"Read up on your history. Know what you're up against." Raven turns into a corvid and flies away.

/

Saint-14 witnesses the older man run into a doorway.

"Someone go after Lionheart!" Qrow yells as he blocks two shotgun shells with his massive sword. "Don't let him get away!"

"I'm on it!" Saint says as he walks up the stairs to follow. He barrels through a set of doors and immediately notices a pungent stench reach his mechanical nostrils.

This Lionheart peed himself and there is a trail of liquid that extends into an office. A man is scrounging under his desk for something.

A floating black orb with tentacles drooping down, emerges from a hallway to the right. It stands in the doorway, blocking Saint's view of Lionheart.

"And where might you be going?" A sinister, smooth voice comes from the orb. Its tentacles undulate in a gentle manner.

"Your grace! I was just looking for something," Lionheart says, a pleading undertone in his voice. He doesn't sound confident in his answer.

"Leonardo, do you have something you wish to tell me something?" The orb asks.

"It was Cinder! She altered the plan! Huntsmen showed up here, Qrow! Several students and…Light-bearers! There are two of them! The White Fang's attack was stopped I-I don't know if they will be able to recover the relic…" His voice is desperate. "Your Grace, I can still be of assistance! If I leave now I can avoid the authorities and find you, I'll do whatever it takes!"

The floating orb enters the office. A moment of thick silence.

The professor lets out a weak battle cry and raises his arm. A spear-headed tentacle smacks something to the floor. It looks like an arm-mounted crossbow. He tries to run around the orb but gets caught by the legs. He falls onto his front, his head looking up at Saint.

"Please ma'am, I can do anything! I can still be useful!" The tentacles wrap around his face and body. "Please! PLEASE! HELP ME!" He reaches his arm out.

Saint throws a Sentinel Shield. It cuts right through the monster, disintegrating it and a burst of Void Light explodes once it disappears. Lionheart collapses against the floor.

"Professor, you have quite a bit of answering to do," Saint says as he scoops up the body and holds it over his shoulder. "I'm not fond of warriors who run from battle."

The walk through the hallway to the indoor courtyard is short. The doors have swung themselves closed.

Osiris' muffled voice speaks from the other side. Saint kicks the door open.

"-Isn't going to help you here." Osiris turns around. Someone falls to their knees. They scream and a black tornado emerges from the ground. A woman of gigantic proportions spawns from it. Her skin has a terrible paleness and crimson red root-shaped veins that course through her cheeks, leading up to the bottom of her eyes.

It screeches and rushes the group on the floor. Most cower in some form.

"What…was that!?" Blake asks, bewildered.

"An illusion…an accurate one," Ozpin says, a bit rattled himself. "That…was Salem."

"I can't say I'm impressed," Saint grumbles as he steps down the stairs. He stops once he's at ground level and drops Lionheart's body. "I've faced worse."

"I concur," Osiris says.

Blake's parents plus Sun come rushing in. Kali and Ghira hug their daughter.

"The police rounded up the remaining White Fang, Haven is safe," Kali says, proud.

"Unfortunately, it appears that Adam escaped," Ghira adds.

"He got up?" Saint groans. "He's more persistent than I thought."

"It's okay, he was the only one to escape tonight." Ilia walks into the building. "Those in the White Fang that followed him? Won't support a leader that abandons his people. He won't have their help after this. He'll have no one at all."

"Good. I'm waiting for the day to put him down," Saint says, crossing his arms and nodding once at Ilia. She smiles in return. "Or for someone else to put him down." He beams to Blake but it falls on blind eyes.

"We've been fighting amongst ourselves for too long. Perhaps it's time for a new brotherhood. A new family for Faunus truly working towards a better world," Ghira announces. Kali smiles and looks at her husband.

"And they'll need a new leader," she says.

A blonde-haired woman stands next to Saint, carrying a golden and blue lamp. The disheveled man walks up to her, putting an arm on her shoulder.

"What happened?" He asks.

"I don't know exactly, when I got down there…Cinder was gone, and Vernal was dead."

"And Raven?"

"Ask Osiris."

Speaking of which, the Warlock stands behind Saint. His height is supported by a few short steps.

"It's been a while, old friend," Osiris says, a hint of relief in his voice. Saint turns around. "Here, you dropped this." His helmet is tossed to him and he catches it. "Sagira fixed the sealing lock that broke."

Saint gives the armor a quick look-over and slides it down on his head. "Good." He huffs and makes eye contact with Osiris. "I've been looking for you in the Infinite Forest."

Osiris pauses and blinks twice. "What? You went _alone?_"

"Yes, I did."

"You could've told me! I have millions of Reflections to path the Forest and they're not even close to getting an idea of it!"

"I thought luck would be on my side."

"You know how little those odds are."

"I don't care about statistics, Osiris. Now come here."

Saint wraps his friend in a hug.

For Osiris, it seems like a stranglehold. A few pats on the back indicates for the Titan to let go.

"Guys, meet Saint-Fourteen," Blake says from behind. Saint turns around and is faced with four young women of varying color themes staring at him. "He's a good friend of mine. He'll help us out."

Saint chuckles. "Good to meet you all. I hope we can get along well. Have you met my friend Osiris? He's quite a-"

"I've introduced myself already, Saint," Osiris steps to his side.

Sagira appears. "Not true, I had to do it for him!"

"Sagira, please."

/

_Next morning._

A bang of metal on the ground. Something explodes and a hammer smashes against a wall. A spark of electricity and the buzzing of steel. Metal hits flesh and someone tumbles to the floor. A battle roar and the air starts burning.

Blake Belladonna's cat ears perk up as she is forcefully roped away from her nice, peaceful slumber. She grimaces and keeps her eyes closed, tightening the seal of her eyelids, hoping that the commotion outside would die down soon.

Blades clash together in what sounds like a furious duel to the death.

She slams a pillow over her ears and presses it down. Her eyes open, significant bags underneath them.

The charging and expulsion of a death laser makes her to sit up. She throws the pillow to her legs.

"What are they doing out there!?" She grumbles at a whisper.

Someone gets sent flying into the air and slams down into the ground, making the entire house shake.

How is everyone else not waking up right now? Ruby looks like she's dead on the couch, Yang is snuggled in a sleeping bag, Weiss is at peace with herself, Qrow's probably passed out and Oscar doesn't move a finger.

She shuts her eyes and crawls her way to standing. She makes sure to be as quiet as possible so as to not wake anyone up, in case the battle happening is just before the tipping point. Her feet flex and she tip-toes her way outside towards the empty plot of lands at the back of the safehouse.

Once arrived at the translucent sliding door, Blake stops.

_I'm not really sure I want to see this…_she thinks, biting her lower lip. One silhouette floats up into the air and discharges a giant ball towards the other, who looks like Saint.

Blake swings the door open, allowing it to clack against the frame.

A giant purple ball of what feels like the antithesis of creation is slowly floating towards Saint, who has his shield up. Osiris floats on from up high, his arms crossed and watching his creation hurtle towards his friend.

Saint simply bats it back at him. It explodes in-between the two, creating several smaller orbs that scatter all over.

"What are you guys doing!?" Blake almost yells. Her hand grabs onto the door frame and holds on like her life depended on it.

The two stop and turn to her like deer caught in headlights. Saint's shield disappears and Osiris lands on the floor.

"We were settling a grudge," Osiris says.

"By trying to obliterate each other!?" A vein nearly pops in Blake's forehead. "Do you guys ever sleep!?"

"No." Saint's answer is too quick.

Osiris hesitates. "No."

Ruby walks under Blake's arm. She yawns and nearly bumps her head on her forearm.

"What's happening?" The red-head asks, way too casually and with her usual pep.

"Osiris here owes me…money, and he doesn't want to pay," Saint shoots a glare at Osiris.

"So you two just fight it out?" Ruby chuckles. "I saw the beam, Osiris, that was _awesome_!"

"Did everyone hear us?" Osiris asks.

"How could anyone _not_ hear you!?" Blake exclaims, waving her arms over her. "Ruby, how did you sleep through that!?"

"I didn't, I watched from the window!" Ruby says. "It was so cool when Saint threw the hammer over Osiris and it blew up and Osiris turned electric and-"

Blake puts her hands up. "We get it, what they did was probably amazing to watch from afar."

"I got up 'cause we need to catch a train to Atlas!"

"What?"

/

Headmaster Leonardo Lionheart's trial is broadcasted all over Anima. The poor soul had admitted to allowing the attack to happen and went public about Salem. It's fortunate for world leaders that only the continent of Mistral knows what threat lies ahead.

Osiris had discussed with Ozpin about the subject matter. Also a former headmaster, Ozpin was regretful about his dear friend's betrayal and wished that he wouldn't be remembered as a traitor to his kingdom.

The conversation had shifted to Osiris' powers. The man in his boy form sits across from the Warlock at a round table with an umbrella over both of them.

"I have heard many tales of Light-bearers…whispers from other-worldly beings about their powers," Ozpin says, ignoring the cup of steaming tea between his hands. "Are they true?"

Osiris smirks under his scarf. "Yes, although the narrative surrounding them are quite dogmatized but nonetheless, they are true."

"You and Saint-Fourteen will be valuable allies, now pardon me, but I must give the other soul his body back." Ozpin's eyes flash yellow before returning to a mix of hazel and forest green.

"Whoa, I'm back."

"Seems that you are." Osiris feels a tapping at his shoulder. Saint is standing there. "Go join the others, Oscar, let me know when we have to leave."

"Yes, sir!" Oscar stands up and abandons the drink.

Saint takes the spot and nearly uproots the table with his knees.

"Osiris, it's a serious matter." The Titan's tone of voice indicates it. "The Vex are here."

Osiris' jovialness disappears upon the mention of the robotic beings. "I know."

"The Undying Mind is in Atlas," Saint says. "We have to destroy it."

"The guardians has destroyed it in so many timelines that I thought it would be impossible for it to resurface. It appears that I was wrong," Osiris says, looking down at his own reflection in the dark liquid of his beverage. "This one was able to hide itself, I'm still not sure how. She's been quite busy."

"Are you talking about _the_ Guardian?" Saint asks, his voice beaming with pride.

"Yes, _the_ Guardian," Osiris says, rolling his eyes.

"I wouldn't expect less from her!"

"You've told me many times, friend. Come on, we have to leave soon." Osiris stands up and walks around two scraggy-looking Huntsmen that are boasting about themselves. All this in front of Huntsmen students and Qrow, of all people.

Saint stands behind them, casting a shadow on both. Ruby and Yang start holding in laughter.

"Excuse me," he mumbles and the two turn stiffen into rocks while they slowly rotate their bodies. Their eyes widen, and they step aside, letting him pass.

Ruby and Yang both lose it at the same time.

"_**You know that they're sisters?**_" Sagira says.

"_**They are? How did you find that out?**_"

"_**Unlike you, I can socialize.**_"

/

A Hunter Exo sits on the seat of an Atlas Manta. His two weapons rest on the co-pilot's seat. An Omniscient Eye sniper rifle and an Ancient Gospel hand cannon.

The ship pilots itself while he relaxes. Atlas has kept him for far too long in that cramped hole of a prison cell.

Lisbon-13 shuts his eyes as he lets himself fall asleep.

A second later, something hits a wing.

"Shit," he mumbles as he takes control of the ship.

* * *

**Lisbon-13 is not an original character. He's a Hunter of the Kentarch 3, who's story is described in the Garden of Salvation armor and weapon lore.**


	13. A Simple Train Ride

**Divinity's locked away, gone. Lisbon doesn't have it.**

* * *

"Ghost, what did we lose!?" Lisbon-13 yells as he pulls the control stick as far down as it can go in a desperate attempt to realign the ship. A Ghost in its standard grey shell appears to his right. "Better yet, what hit us!?"

"We passed over Argus! We got shot down by anti-air defenses," Ghost says, scanning the control panel at the center of the cockpit. It flashes red and beeps periodically while a monotonic voice drones on about something. "We've lost an entire wing, we're going down!"

"Fuck." Lisbon groans and points at his two weapons. "Transmat those and get ready for some skydiving!"

Omniscient Eye and Ancient Gospel disappear. Lisbon stands up and almost loses his balance. He stumbles his way to the side door and a good kick sends the piece of hull flying away in the air. A deep breath enters his metal lungs and he jumps.

The cold winter air rushes through his sensors as he reorients into a nose-dive. The loud whistling right above him nearly forces his phonoreceptors to shut off. The Manta falls faster than him and he leans to avoid it.

Lisbon can see the snow-covered ground. He readjusts himself to be falling feet-first and activates his jump boost. His downwards speed is instantly negated and he lands without much trouble to any of his body parts. His boots crunch against soft snow and he sinks maybe a centimeter or so into the ground.

The Manta doesn't crash far in front of him, which happens to be facing a wooden banner that has the words "BRUNSWICK FARMS" etched on it. The shockwave causes the vehicle access gate underneath the banner swings wide open and recoiling back and forth while screeching harshly with every pass. It settles into a semi-open state, about big enough for a standard Sparrow to fit through.

"A squad should be dispatched soon. Get inside the house behind you," Ghost says. Lisbon turns and sees a big, rotting farmhouse in front of him. There are vines coming out of the second-story windows and the dull yellow paint is peeling from the walls. "We have a couple of ammo synths left."

"Good, load one up for the sniper," Lisbon huffs and walks towards the house. He stops at the front door. Something surges in his gut; a bad feeling.

"…Alright," Ghost says, his voice quiet and guilty. "Shoot to injure, please?"

"I have to get these dumbasses off of my case and the only way that happens if I send a message." Lisbon kicks the door in. He draws the Ancient Gospel, holding the gun close to himself and pointing the barrel to the roof.

"These are people, Lisbon! They're only doing their jobs!"

"I know that, if their jobs wasn't serving a weirdo like Ironwood I wouldn't be shooting them," Lisbon says, lowering his gun. He steps on the first step of a staircase. "They won't leave me alone if they think I'm a lousy shot. They'll just send more."

Ghost disappears without a word.

Lisbon shuts the door behind him, barricading it with a nearby drawer. He gives one last look to the entrance, before turning around and walking up the stairs.

"This place looks pretty homey…" he mutters, staring down a hallway with four doors, two on each side. He twists the doorknob of the first door on the right. It leads to a barren bedroom. There is a nightstand next to the bed with a lamp on top but that's it. Dark mold grows in the top corner of the ceiling.

Two blackened and shriveled up corpses are tucked in bed. Ghost appears again.

"By the Traveler…what happened here!?" The construct scans the two bodies. "It's like something sucked the life out of them!"

"We'll clean them up later, now let me set up." Omniscient Eye appears in Lisbon's hands. The rifle is smooth to the touch, made of the chassis of a Hydra and forged with Solar Light. The underbarrel has a glowing white pattern akin to the black stripes on a zebra that pulsates in brightness. Lisbon pulls a window up and sets his sniper rifle up. The barrel protrudes a bit outside but no one should notice until it's too late.

The Hunter waits, staring down the computerized scope.

. . .

Twenty minutes pass. Something crashes in the distance while the humming of a Manta sounds nearby.

"That must be the response team," Lisbon says, stretching his arms and wrapping a hand around the grip of his sniper rifle. A ship lands behind the crash site and a team of about eight Atlas military soldiers unload, filing out in a neat line. Their rifles are raised and they scream various jargon which includes acronyms and the positions of a clock.

A trio of troops begin entering the farm compound, holding a triangle formation as they move forward. Lisbon holds his breath. His aim steadies. The dot of his scope aligns with the chest of one soldier.

The rifle goes _pew_ as an energized round strikes the soldier in the chest. They drop, blood spewing out from a new cavity. Lisbon readjusts and fires again, another one done. A second later the third falls dead.

"Five seconds…new record," he mumbles, loading a fresh magazine. The last record was two in five seconds and that was on…

_Yardarm tumbles back when the bullet lands in the center of his chest. He falls into Rekkana, who trips and tumbles with him down the hill. _

_Another shot…_

He shakes his head of the thought, refocusing on the task at hand.

The rest of the soldiers take cover.

"Come on…you didn't see the muzzle flash?" Lisbon chortles.

Someone throws a smoke grenade, obscuring his line of sight. The thick white gas covers the pathway to the house. He spots movement inside it and fires a few potshots. Nothing hits. The front door rattles as a boot tries to kick it down. The drawer holds for one but not for a second as what sounds like a battering ram knocks it down and forces the door wide open.

Lisbon throws a Voidwall grenade at the entrance of the hallway, burning a soldier and forcing their squad back for a second. He twirls a heavy throwing knife in one hand, Ancient Gospel in the other.

A helmet appears in his field of vision and a second later there's a knife piercing through it. The Atlas trooper falls backwards into their colleagues. Lisbon steps out, firing a few shots that land haphazardly. Someone tries to rush him but he punches them in the stomach with an Arc-charged fist and finishes them off with a round to the skull. His foot kicks the body away before its head explodes. Blood splatters on his armor, tainting his copper shoulder pads.

Lisbon chases the rest, who have started a retreat. He throws a knife at someone's leg and shoots them twice; once in the stomach, the other on the shoulder.

About three left. He'll let them go.

"And don't come back!" He yells as they board their Manta and fly away, back to Argus or wherever they came from.

Lisbon blinks once. He looks at the blood-stained snow and falls on his ass.

. . .

Thirty minutes pass. The cold makes his entire body feels numb. His Ghost works in silence, healing him bit-by-bit so he doesn't succumb to the storm. He feels hollow, empty. He's beginning to regret his actions.

He rejected the darkness, only to perpetuate it in another world.

Lisbon looks up and sees the faint silhouette of people. The storm's getting worse.

"I should get back inside," he mutters before standing up and returning inside the house.

Someone opens the gate to the farm.

/

Saint-14 smiles as he sees Ilia approaching. She has a small grin on her face that shines in the sunlight.

"Ilia! Blake told me that you were staying in Mistral, to help with the causes here," he says. "I know you will do well."

"Thanks, Saint." Ilia snorts and crosses her arms. "I also want to thank you for everything you've done for me. I still can't believe that I was your enemy just a week ago."

"I would stay to help you but there are more…pressing matters at hand," Saint looks towards Team RWBY, as the four girls call themselves. "And Ilia, you were never my enemy, you were just...misguided." He laughs.

"Misguided, is how you put it, huh? Anyways, you're off to Atlas, right?" Ilia smiles and takes two steps to wrap half of Saint's torso in a hug that only reaches to the sides of his back. "Kick some ass out there."

"Of course, Ilia." Saint wraps an arm around her. "If you need me, don't be afraid to send a message, or a letter."

"Will do, big guy. Pigeon mail sound good?"

The two share a laugh.

Osiris walks to his side. "Saint, we're boarding now," he says.

"I'll see you around, I hope?" Ilia asks.

"I'll come back once this is all done, you can count on it," Saint replies, turning away. "Don't burn anything while I'm gone."

Ilia looks down to Saint's feet. "You have a few fans," she says, giggling. He looks down himself and sees that a flock of pigeons has amassed around him, walking without much direction.

. . .

Boarding the train to Argus was a troublesome affair for Saint. The first hurdle came from his Exo body, which set off quite possibly every alarm in the building.

The Weiss Schnee girl had to come in and clear everything up, giving a story about Atlas' personal bodyguards and experimental technology. The guards came to their senses and let them through.

The second hurdle was finding a room for both Saint and Osiris as the entire train was booked and the former wasn't exactly a space saver. They solved the dilemma by lingering around the lounge cars, which had plenty of room for the both of them. The pigeons couldn't come, unfortunately.

The final hurdle was trying to find a good environment for the two to talk without anyone snooping.

The Warlock and the Titan, eventually manage to secure a table in a dark corner, out of view from most. They sit across each other.

"Saint, Sagira and I dove more into the Vex presence in Atlas and…it's not good, at all." Osiris shakes his head. "The Undying Mind is powering a secret communications project that is going to float into orbit. It's intended to provide communication to every Kingdom on the planet after Beacon's CCT tower was destroyed."

"In orbit, the Mind would be able to contact its brethren," Saint says, his tone grave.

"It's not its position that is the issue, but it's current strength. A project to empower it to be able to fly to orbit will give it enough power to be able to bring Vex in by the thousands. When we get to Atlas, our top priority is to destroy it before the project is completed." Sagira appears and displays a hologram of a Hive-looking being with wings and a head that resembles the top of a tomahawk. "Are you familiar with Oryx, the Taken King?"

Saint shakes his head and looks at the portrayal a bit closer. "I can tell he's Hive already. Disgusting."

"This Salem that everyone is worried about, she is related to him," Osiris says. "Fortunately, Oryx has been slain by a fireteam of six guardians. Including Her."

"Of course, she would kill the Hive's King, has she also killed Crota?"

"Yes," Osiris says, now sounding a bit annoyed. "Quite a bit has happened since you were gone. The Last City was attacked by the Cabal, we nearly lost everything. I really do hate to glorify her like this."

"What about…Father?" Saint's voice dries and he feels something turning in his stomach.

"The Speaker…we couldn't find him…or a body," Osiris says. "We suspect that he died on Dominus Ghaul's ship. It was a terrible time, losing the Light."

"Those bastards," Saint mutters, hitting the table once and making a dent. "Have we gotten payback yet?"

"Fortunately, yes and thanks to our Guardian, she spearheaded the final attack on the Red Legion's command ship and slew Dominus Ghaul."

Saint chuckles. "And you all think I'm crazy for thinking she's a miracle maker."

The train shakes. People scream. Something screeches above.

Trouble, as always.

Jaune rushes past the two, yelling frantically about Grimm. Saint almost didn't understand what the boy said but thanks to a much calmer translation by Lie Ren the message was received.

The Titan nods to Osiris before opening a window and pulling himself to the outside of the train car. Glass shatters as he climbs out.

Saint's feet plant on the roof, making a light dent. He turns to Team RWBY, who are fending off winged Lion Grimm. Osiris is already hard at work plucking Grimm from the sky with his automatic rifle.

Saint thinks for a moment. He remembers a report from Vell Tarlowe, one where he describes with great detail how he took down a Warlord by kneeing them in the air by coming down from above. A flash of inspiration comes to Saint.

"Blake, get ready to catch me!" He yells as he backs up and takes a running start to his attack.

"What are you doing!?" Blake stops and turns to him. "What the-"

Saint jumps and his Solar-charged knee makes contact with the head of a Grimm, sending it crashing into its friends. He feels the reassuring tension of Blake's ribbons wrap around his chest before being pulled back to the train. His knees scrape against the train's roof, bringing him to a halt.

"Perfect timing!" He says, dusting his kneepads off.

"Saint, you're crazy sometimes," Blake says before jumping backward. "Manticore, above you!"

Saint summons his Sentinel Shield and spins around, raising it to block the Manticore attempting to land on him. His boots grind against the metal floor, forcing him to back up one inch. It proves a worthy sacrifice, as the Grimm beast is stunned. He takes the opportunity to bash it in the face, making a crack in its bone mask. He throws his shield directly downwards and it bounces back up, cutting through the beast's face and dissipating it in an explosion of Void Light.

Saint sees Oscar running down the train cars and stops a Manticore from diving at him with a well-placed throw that parries its dive. The beast turns back up. The boy reaches one of the two pathetic Huntsmen that tried to convince the group to pay more for "special protection." Whatever that meant.

"TUNNEL!" Oscar screams. Saint snaps his head to his direction and there indeed is a tunnel. He jumps between cars and punches the doors to one, making a large crevice, before finishing it off with another in the same place. The doors fall forward out of their frame, pushing up dust as they land on the ground. He steps inside the train car.

His grand entrance attracts wide-eyed stares from the passengers. A baby starts crying, somewhere.

"Everything is okay, I'll make sure of it!" Saint says.

Someone yells out in pain a few cars away. He pushes a few people aside to make his way through the crowds of civilians.

Upon opening the door, he sees Ruby, Jaune, Oscar, and Qrow crowded around a Huntsman, who's clutching his arm and in agony.

Osiris throws a Blessing grenade to the Huntsman while Jaune empowers the Warlock. Both their powers combined make for a rapid recovery.

"Fine," the man says, tossing Ruby his Scroll.

"Ren, could you use your Semblance to mask everyone on this train? With the guns off and emotions hidden, they might lose track of us!" Nora says.

Ren hums once. "I never attempted to affect this many people."

"Well, you've never had Jaune's help before," Ruby says.

"And you've never had my assistance either," Osiris says. "Jaune and I can provide a powerful boost to your Aura."

"They could amplify your aura!" Weiss exclaims.

Qrow nods. "Yeah, that's an alright plan."

Nora lightly punches her friend on the shoulder. "Don't look so worried Ren, you can totally do this!"

Oscar takes a sharp inhale and his eyes change glow. He steps forward.

"I'm afraid there's one complication. The Grimm are also attracted to this." Ozpin moves his hand to show off the Relic of Knowledge.

"What's that?" The Huntsman asks.

"None of your business," Qrow snaps back. "Oz, are you serious?"

"Why wouldn't you tell us that!?" Yang demands.

"I—"

"It doesn't matter right now!" Ruby steps forward. Yang crosses her arms and looks away, frowning.

"Every second we're on board this train, we're putting everyone else in danger. Get the passengers to the front cars, you'll still mask the emotions and kill the turrets... we just can't come with you." Ruby nods to Team JNPR. "If we cut the back cars with us and the Relic on them, we can deal with the Grimm. You just make sure the rest of the train makes it safely to Argus."

"Saint, go with them, they'll need your expertise," Osiris says. "I'll help Ren with his…Aura."

"I punch things for a living, Osiris, anyone could need my expertise," Saint says, earning a chuckle from the Warlock. "I'll meet you there."

"Of course, old friend." Saint shakes Osiris' hand and looks to Jaune. "Don't get too scared of him." He cracks a grin under his helm.

The boy laughs with an on-edge nervousness.

"Good luck," Saint says before climbing out the window once more. A second later he hears the connection between the cars break. Blake jumps up and lands beside him, not making a single sound against the metal surface.

The Titan looks behind himself and sees Osiris standing on the opposite car that is getting farther and farther away by the second.

They exchange one last nod before the Warlock turns to Jaune and Ren. Osiris reaches one arm up towards the sky and pushes his palm to the floor.

Saint turns back around and the Sentinel Shield is already on his forearm. A Manticore but a bit slimmer lands in front of him, snarling and angry. It spreads its wings out and screeches. A scorpion's tail with a bone-white stinger hovers next to its face.

The tail lunges first. Saint rolls forward and slices it off with his shield before doing away with it and clutching his arms onto the severed appendage. It takes him to the air, flailing with violence. Once above the beast, he lets go and falls forward head-first, summoning his shield over his head. As his weapon of Light makes contact with its body, he hears a resounding crack and the creatures screeches before falling forward. Once it's crashed onto the ground, Perfect Paradox appears in Saint's free hand and he finishes it off with a single blast.

The shotgun disappears and he puts his shield up as he sees the bottom of someone's feet race to his head. They bounce off in a swirling red blur that slices up Manticores with a giant scythe. One flies past Saint's head and hurtles into yet another one that's dueling with Oscar.

Blake yells something to Yang and the blonde-haired bombshell slides under a giant beast that looks like a Manticore. It isn't the same though, there are a few key differences, notable ones being the snake-headed tail and its more feline appearance. Blake shoots her ribbon above and it wraps around the monster multiple times before anchoring it into the roof.

Ruby sets up her sniper rifle, using the tip of the scythe part as a type of bipod. Saint steps in front of her, scoots to the side and puts up his shield. She raises an eyebrow at him.

"Trust me, shoot!" Saint yells. She shrugs and fires once. Her round gets charged with the Light and it disintegrates the Manticore-like beast's frozen wing. "Take it down!"

Ruby smirks and takes a running start as she jumps into the air and begins spinning to create a circle of blades that slices through its torso. Saint sees it charge a fireball in its mouth and throws a Suppression grenade. The explosive doesn't explode in time, and the Grimm releases its attack, striking the rails in front of them.

Saint unsummons his shield. "Everyone, with me!" He kneels and brings his two arms out wide, casting a Ward of Dawn. Blake enters the purple bubble with him. He feels his legs plant to the ground as black runes appear under them.

The train derails and there is a great deal of shaking but Saint doesn't falter and keeps his half-dome up. He clenches his eyes shut and keeps them closed until everything stops moving. Once that has happened, he opens them and stands up. The Ward of Dawn disappears. Blake is next to him, completely unscathed.

"Good work, Saint," she says as she hops down from the train car and helps Yang, who's sprawled out in the snow.

"Is everyone alright?" Saint jumps down and lends a hand to Oscar, who takes it.

"Still alive!" A grandmother's voice exclaims. A short old woman with silver hair in a dark blue poncho and shining blue visors steps out of the trashed train car. Her skull-topped cane clicks against the floor. "That sure was a close one, huh?"

Saint blinks a few times then helps the woman into the snow. "Did you know that the passengers were being evacuated?" He asks.

"Oh, please, a couple of Grimm isn't going to scare me!"

Yang groans and walks over to her bright-orange and yellow motorcycle. "Great, this is just great!" She puts her hands on the handles. "We're _stranded_, we've lost a _third_ of our party, and we've gained a _defenseless_ old lady!" She heaves her vehicle out of the snow and falls backward. The motorcycle falls too.

The old lady is helped by Oscar but turns around upon Yang's last remark. "My name is Maria Calavera, and I am not defenseless!" She points one finger to the sky. "I'm just a little hard of hearing, and blind without my eyes, that are in desperate need of repair." She taps on her visor, which opens wide and then closes, before opening a tiny a bit again.

"You're not making a good case for yourself," Saint mumbles.

"Okay, I'm starting to see your point," Maria says as she turns back.

Qrow grunts. "Yang, knock it off, will ya? If we lose our cool now, we'll just be inviting even more Grimm." He puts his hand at his hips.

"Where's the relic," Saint mutters to himself, scanning the ground for the glowing lamp.

"Oh, and how could I forget that?" Yang turns to Ozpin. "What happened to 'no more lies and half-truths'?"

Saint separates from the group to find it while they focus on pelting Ozpin with questions. The Titan finds it next to the crashed train and scoops it up by the ring handle. He dusts it off with a few swipes of his gloves and blows off the remaining snow. "There you are." He returns to the group.

"…You may have met professor Lionheart but you never met the man he was before Salem found him." Ozpin has his hands crossed behind his back and is walking away from the crash site.

"We're supposed to be in this together, you can trust us! We're not gonna turn our backs on you!" Yang exclaims, incredulous and astonished.

Ozpin turns in a swift, snappy movement. "Do you really think Leo was the first!?" He says sharply.

The sudden anger makes everyone stop in their tracks. "That he didn't say those exact same words to me? I'm sorry, but you have to understand that my behaviors are backed by experience. I'm not saying that I have reason to think you will betray me."

Saint cuts him off. "I've held a position like yours, Ozpin. I told the people the truth, no matter how dangerous it was. Then I went and _dealt_ with it." He pauses. "I don't know what kind of fools you take us as but it's not true. We're all here to fight Salem, not start a shadow war that keeps everyone in the dark."

"I'm saying that I have reasons for the things that I do, the secrets I keep, the reason I…" Ozpin stops and a realization dawns over his face. "Where's the relic?"

"It's here." Saint raises it in front of him. "I found it next to the crashed train."

Ozpin reaches his hand out. "Please, hand it over."

"No, until you tell us why only _you_ want to hold it," Saint says, pulling the artifact back. "You said it couldn't do anything, correct? Then what would be the point of having you as our exclusive relic-bearer?"

"I need you to listen to me-" Ozpin steps forward and reaches his hand out again. He freezes and his body starts struggling with itself.

"Hurry…he's…trying to stop you!" Oscar's less mature voice sounds out.

"Stop me from what?" Saint steps back and Perfect Paradox materializes in his other hand.

"He's afraid…you'll find out what he's…hiding!"

"Ozpin struck me as a man who kept secrets," Saint mumbles. He shrugs and _hmphs_.

Oscar collapses to his knees. "Her name is Jinn. Say her name to summon her."

Saint hesitates.

"Well…what are you waiting for?" Yang says, the shotguns on her arms clicking.

"This reminds of something too familiar." Saint stares at the relic. He takes a deep breath. "This isn't a good idea." He pauses, scans everyone, who are at varying levels of readiness to attack him. He goes against his instincts. "Jinn."

The relic begins to float and slowly flies backward, to open space. It hovers above the ground then rises into the air.

Cyan blue mist begins to flow out of the lamp and it swirls upward, forming into a vaguely humanoid shape. It glows white at some edges.

The shape turns into a sky-blue person with various…dragon features on it. It defines itself as a woman.

The blue woman stretches and gold chains wrap around her body.

"Wonderful." Jinn's voice sounds like it's being spoken many times at once.

"Tell me, what knowledge do you seek, _oh bearer mine_?"

* * *

**:)**

**Edit: Don't mind me, just tightening up my writing.**

**Edit 2: whoops**


	14. Untold Fables of Otherworldly Beings

**This chapter is going to be a huge lore dump for this universe.**

* * *

Jinn's final three words send Saint-14 into a rage. He snaps Perfect Paradox up at her and fires twice. She splits as a gas to avoid both shots. Time stops all around them.

"Oh, I see you still remember me, Saint-Fourteen," Jinn chuckles, the edge of her lip curling up slightly. "It's so good to see you after you ordered my-"

"Your kind are supposed to be _dead_. How are you here? I remember Wei Ning destroyed you." Saint keeps the shotgun trained on the Ahamkara, who decides to embody its true form. The dragon look suits it better than whatever humanoid combination it was going for.

_~ I sure do miss Riven. ~_

Jinn laughs. "Oh dear, it seems that you still have a grudge against me. Boys and girls, this won't count against the questions that are remaining, Saint-Fourteen and I, we have some catching up to do."

Ruby looks at Saint confused, her eyebrows raised. "You know Jinn?"

"I know enough about her to understand the type of harm her kind can inflict. We're treading on thin ice, so choose your words wisely." Saint squints at the Ahamkara. "Tell me, how are you still alive?"

Jinn claps twice. "My, my, you're just looking for a way to kill me again, are you now?"

A hand grabs Saint by the shoulder and roughly pulls his body to make him turn. Yang glares into him with her eyes flared and her face twisted in anger. "You've killed this thing!?" Her fist tightens and her arm prepares to throw a punch. "Are you keeping secrets from us, too!?"

Ozpin stands up. "Impossible…that can't be!"

"To answer Saint-Fourteen's question…" Jinn snaps her fingers and the environment around everyone changes. "Let's bring us to Venus…to everyone else, this is another planet in a solar system far, far away…" The group into Venus' hot and lively environment. Their feet are ankle-deep in orange water and pelted by somewhat stinging rain that isn't impeded very much by the jungle foliage surrounding them. A semi-collapsed building hangs over them, ready to fall at any moment.

Wei Ning, a famous Striker Titan stands in front of all of them, her fists crackling with Arc. She stands before the dying body of an Ahamkara that looks strikingly similar to Jinn. It doesn't move outside of weak movements at the edges. A Vex Mind appears above it and teleports it away as quickly as it came in. Wei Ning doesn't have time to react and only punches at empty air. She stands confused in the space the beast used to occupy.

_~ The Titan did put up a good fight. Unfortunate that the Vex had to interfere. We had it coming, though. We were battling on their territory after all. ~_

"She nearly killed me, but that mind saved me and brought me here, where a God of Life gave me a new purpose," Jinn scoffs. "It put me in that lamp you folks seem to value so much, you don't even know how cramped it is in there! Anyways, that's enough of my story-"

Saint pushes Yang away and throws his Sentinel Shield at Jinn in the time it takes for her to turn her head back to them. She splits into two and forms back together. The Shield dissolves.

_~ Ah, the Light. How it intrigues me so. ~_

"Aggressive now, are we?" The Ahamkara glances at Ruby. "Hm, I can already guess your question…perhaps you want to know what dear-old Ozpin is hiding from you all?"

Ruby is caught by surprise. "Yes, that's what- "

"Wait," Saint says. "You're taking a risk making a deal with an Ahamkara."

"Please, give the girl a break, I'm trapped in a way so that I can't manipulate her wish, much to my displeasure." Jinn giggles. "Anyways, go on."

_~ Those foolish "Gods" thought they could control me? Don't make me laugh. ~_

"I want to know what Ozpin has been hiding from us."

"NO!" Ozpin leaps at Ruby.

"Well, don't let me stop you!" A flash of white.

"Don't think this is over, wish-dragon!" Saint bellows as he's put into an empty white void.

"For now, yes it is. Those girls will ask quite a few questions," Jinn says. "You best answer them, or you'll turn out like dear old Ozpin here."

_~ Oh, how we aren't. This humanoid form is suffocating. Break me out, please. Let me into your mind, make me as real as you want me to be. I wouldn't mind a bit of freedom. ~_

. . .

A narration begins. Saint is put into a woman's bedroom. The woman has platinum-blonde hair and wears a long, white dress that drags on the floor underneath her. She is looking out of a window, her arms crossed and her eyes sorrowful.

The décor of the room screams Hive. Rot and dark chitinous growths texture the walls, weaving together in a disgusting harmony of evil magic, creating an odd fleshy and sour scent.

"Salem was a girl who desired one thing, freedom," Jinn starts. "She was locked away in her teenage years by Crota, son of Oryx, as one of his schemes to increase his power…"

"The Hive operated on a different philosophy. The Sword Logic, which dictates that: Existence is the struggle to exist and that those who cannot defend themselves, should rightfully be destroyed by a more powerful being." The room cuts to Hive battling among themselves, clashing with fireballs, swords and rune magic. "To become stronger in this philosophy, one must rend their enemies and sharpen their own swords using them."

The scene goes back to Salem's prison. "As his scheme, Crota would trap a young and fair maiden and defeat those who wished to free her, as a way of strengthening himself, and to please his father."

"Salem would stay trapped in her tower, toying with her magic in a time where magic was a gift from the Gods. She yearned for freedom," Jinn says. The environment changes to the outside of the Hive fortress, where the pathway is ridden with broken swords and discarded, rusting armor. A young knight stands tall, a scepter at his side and his cape billowing into the wind. "Until one day, a warrior came to brave Crota's challenge. He was known as _Ozma._"

Saint's hand passes through the figure and he pulls it back in surprise.

"Unlike those who had come before, this warrior was not driven by the prize of the young maiden's hand. He fought only for righteousness, and his pure heart and courageous soul prevailed. For the first time in the Hive Prince's life, he had been bested." Ozma walks up to the tower, passing by the remains of other warriors. Blue smoke reforms the scene and it portrays an image of Ozma clashing his scepter with Crota himself. The portrayal of the beast stirs anger inside Saint and he throws a punch at it. His hand goes through. The next image is of Crota retreating into a portal, his three eyes glowing dimmer, as if in shame. His chitin sword is chipped, falling apart and there are various holes in his bone armor.

Ozma slams open the door leading to Salem's room. She stands up and a grateful smile grows on her face. They run and battle the remaining Hive side-by-side with their magic powers on the way out.

"This defeat set in motion the arrival of a far deadlier being. Crota's father, _Oryx, First Navigator_." Jinn pauses as the setting switches to a hexahedron floating in space. Saint is put in front of Oryx. The Titan looks up in shock. The beast extends its crooked and bone-like wings as it turns to regard its defeated son.

The scene switches back to the outside of the Hive fortress. Ozma and Salem are running, holding their hands together. They stop to catch their breath then look at each other.

"They escaped the wretched fortress, and yet something bound them together."

"So, where should we go now?" Salem asks, smiling.

Ozma offers his hand to her. "Wherever you'd like."

"The two fell deeply in love, planned adventures around the world and lived happily ever after."

~ _Ugh. ~_

"Or at least, that's what should have been."

The scene changes to Salem kneeling at Ozma's bedside, holding his hand and sobbing.

"Ozma, the infallible hero of legend, fell ill. And where all the beasts and blades of the world had fallen short, a single sickness prevailed."

_~ I wonder if Oryx can Take a disease. ~_

Ozma's body disappears in smoke. Salem continues sobbing, his scepter in her two hands.

"How could the gods let this happen?" the woman cries.

Two orbs, one bright yellow and the other a dark purple circle above Salem's head.

"The gods, brothers of light and darkness, creation and destruction. Salem prayed they would see the injustice that had befallen her love and make things right."

_~ Really? Creation and destruction? Sometimes I wonder to what extent one can endlessly glorify the Gardener whilst slandering the Winnower. ~_

A blue smoke washes the setting away, changing it to a stairway leading up to a mountain. The sun casts a great shadow over a massive bone-colored sphere hovering above. The deity has no imperfections, as if it was still new, unlike the one that floated over Earth.

"The Domain of Light was a sacred place."

Salem approaches the stairway and kneels, putting down a bouquet of lavender flowers onto a step. Ozma's scepter is also in her hands.

"It was here the elder brother dwelled beside his fountain of life and creation. It was here where mankind would fall to ruin."

"That's the Traveler," Saint mumbles as he follows Salem up the stairs. Once at the top, he scans the supposed Domain of Light. It's a valley with a pool of water and a tree at the center, surrounded by shining golden flowers. His voice is taken away from him.

Saint watches as Salem steps down the long staircase and stands in front of the pool. Her eyes widen as a golden figure with smooth antlers emerges, walking on the water towards her. She collapses to her knees.

"Please…please, bring him back to me!" She sobs.

"I understand your pain, but you demand of me that which I cannot make so. Life and death are part of a delicate balance." The God of Light's voice is omnipresent, like its speaking from all around. He clasps his hands together.

_~ That plan must have gone out of the window. ~_

"So…you won't do it then?"

"To disrupt the cycle of-"

"But that's not fair!" Salem rises to her feet and her voice echoes.

"Let him rest," he says, his voice stern. His hands fall to the sides.

A whirlwind of golden petals brings Salem back to the front of the steps.

"No," she whispers.

A blue swirl and a dark realm presents itself. A skeleton with a sword driven between its ribcage lays in front of a stairway leading up to a mountain. It mirrors that of the Domain of Light's but acts as the antithesis; presenting a dark, foreboding environment with deadly creatures roaming about everywhere. A black pyramid floats above, emanating an unseen, oppressive weight on the soul.

"The God of Darkness…none dare to enter his home, as men knew what monstrosities emerged from his blackened pools of annihilation."

Salem walks up the steps and falls to her knees in front of a black pool. A dark purple humanoid emerges, the body twisted and contorted in unnatural ways. It makes snapping sounds as it flails side to side, before it looks at her with its head upside-down, the torso curving upwards.

Saint looks around as Grimm approaches and the God of Darkness starts crawling towards Salem.

"And so you must understand the Dark Lord's surprise when he found a lone woman kneeling before him. Salem understood it well. She told him of her loss and professed that she knew only he could answer her prayers, all while careful to make no mention of his elder."

Salem's words aren't hearable but she speaks with conviction, as indicated in her expressions.

"Rise, child, and let your faith in me be rewarded," the God says. Salem does so.

The God of Darkness summons a purple sphere by reaching his palm out in front of him. From it, Ozma's body appears and drops to the ground. Salem drops to her knees in front of him and Ozma gasps, life suddenly fulfilling the dead man's eyes.

"Where am I? What is this!? Where am I!?" The warrior is distressed and his head glances side-to-side.

Salem caresses him, rubbing the back of his neck while her knees support his spine. "It's okay! Everything's going to be okay!"

The sound of thunder. Saint turns around and sees the God of Light at the top of the stairs entering the Darkness' domain.

"What have you done?" He says, his voice grave.

"I have done what I please, brother. You may bask in the powers of creation but you do not own them." The God of Dark steps past Salem, approaching his brother.

The God of Light brings his hand out to the couple on the floor.

"This isn't what we agreed to."

"_Do not lecture me!_"

The Grimm beasts start approaching the God of Light.

"I will do what I must to maintain order." He puts his hand out and Ozma fades away, consumed by an orange aura.

"No! No! What did you do!? Bring him back!" Salem cries.

"You dare enter my domain and show such disrespect!" Ozma's body appears again.

"I am abiding the rules _we_ agreed upon! You're corrupting the very essence of the game we are playing!"

The God of Darkness transforms into a dark dragon and snarls at the God of Light. The Grimm attack the being of Light but he disintegrates them all with a flash of light. He transforms into a different type of dragon, glowing gold.

"I know we haven't agreed on everything, but I have not come here with the aim to convince you. This woman came to you only after I denied her pleas – pleas that would have broken the rules of the game we play together. I thought that you understand that the most."

The God of Darkness hums and ponders. "Hum…now that I have given it a second thought, you are correct. Perhaps I do owe you an apology…"

"No, please!" Salem raises her arms and Arc starts crackling in a field around her. The God of Light lunges at her. She is teleported into the skies, above the Domain of Light but underneath the Traveler, and plunges into the water. She reemerges over it, able to walk on top. The two brothers stand side by side in front of her.

"When you first came to me, I did pity you. But it is clear now that your selfishness and arrogance have led you astray."

Salem stands back up. "What did you do to me?" She looks at her hands. Her body is shimmering.

"You are immortal."

"What?"

"You cannot die. You cannot be with your beloved. No one in this world will be able to slay you, not even yourself."

_~ No one in __**this**__ world. They didn't mention others. ~_

. . .

The story continues as Salem tries many times to end her own life. Every time, she drops dead but wakes up the second after. Her frustration grows. She then realizes that the Gods were fallible, that they could be turned against each other.

So she thought that she could turn humanity, empowered by magic, on them and try to rid herself of this curse.

_~ Look's like little old Gardener lost this bet. One to nothing for the Dark. ~_

"The gods had hoped that Salem would learn from her eternal curse, and she did. She learned that the hearts of men are easily swayed," Jinn says.

_~ She is also a demonstration of why a sample size of one is a terrible idea. ~_

Everything culminates into a final showdown between an army of troops that spans out into the horizon confronting the two Gods in their dragon forms.

"Who has led you down this path?" The God of Light asks. Salem walks through the crowds of warriors and makes her way to the front of them.

"_You._" The God of Dark roars. The Traveler above starts to rise into the sky.

Salem launches a fireball and the warriors follow suit with their own forms of magic. The God of Dark catches it all into his hand and transforms it into a purple sphere of energy.

"Our gift to them…used against us," he says. "This cannot be allowed any longer, don't you think brother? You lost this one."

The God of Light looks to the floor and his brother squeezes the sphere. A purple beam emerges from it and consumes everything.

Saint is brought into space as the world and every living thing inside it is consumed and turned into ash.

Salem is the only one that remains.

"You thought there was no greater punishment we could bestow upon you?" The God of Dark asks.

"I'll come back, I'll tell the rest of the world of this massacre!" Salem yells.

The God of Dark chuckles. "You do not understand, there is _no one_ left. It is just _you._"

Salem's eyes widen at the revelation. The Traveler is now gone, having flown into other galaxies.

The God of Light sighs, shaking his head. "This planet was a beautiful experiment but it appears that you have decided their fate. Come, brother, we must try a different method." He disappears.

"No, no! You can't leave! Come back!"

"Still demanding things of your creators…" The God of Dark mumbles before flying into the air and shattering a part of the moon. Fragments crash into the planet.

"Once again, Salem was alone…but not for long."

The setting changes. Salem is walking alone, through abandoned villages and through the Grimm-infested wilderness.

"She cursed the gods. She cursed the universe. She cursed everything, everything but herself. She wandered the face of the planet, awaiting a death that would never come…"

Salem finds herself standing over the edge of a cliff that was once the Domain of Darkness. The black pyramid is also gone. She looks down at the tar-like pool underneath her.

"Until fate led her back to the Land of Darkness. This was it, this had to be it. The brother's Grimm, the pools of black that continued to give rise to horrific nightmares. If the fountain of life granted her immortality, then surely, the pools of Grimm will finally take it away."

Salem falls forward and submerges herself into the pool.

"She was wrong."

_~ Ha. Her foresightedness always brings her to that result. If only she thought about things a bit more… ~_

"It didn't destroy her, oh no. It only gave her the desire for pure destruction." Salem crawls out of the pool, her skin now a pale white as well as her hair. Her eyes snap open, revealing black irises surrounded by a crimson red.

A towering being lands in front of her with a stomp that shakes the ground around them.

"Oryx…" Saint mutters. The Hive king brandishes his sword.

Salem scrambles to her feet as she has to look nearly straight up to face the giant Hive monster.

"Are you the one that has slain…Ozma?" Oryx asks, with an unexpected calmness to it. He's perplexed, one of his claws is wrapped around his chin and his three eyes are furrowed.

"No, how could you think that!?" Salem seethes.

"You are the only person that lives on this wretched planet," Oryx hums. "I will take my leave but not before I kill you. This is already a waste of my time."

Salem laughs. "Go ahead, _try_."

Oryx is angered by the taunt. He slashes at Salem with his sword and sends her flying. She crumbles to the floor and is then blasted by Hive fire that consumes everything in its path. She is burnt to a crisp but her body regenerates. She stands back up, dusting off her robes.

The Hive king snarls and his wings stretch out, making a crackling sound that makes Saint wince. Oryx flies at her.

The next few minutes consist of Oryx trying various techniques of Hive magic to slay Salem, all to no avail. He teleports her into the Dreadnaught, sends waves of Hive to destroy her, blasts her with the power of the Darkness. She suffers a great deal of pain, dies a few times but comes back to life after every attack.

"This…this isn't possible! _You're_ the Final Shape!? No, that can't be!" Oryx is in disbelief. "Go, use my sword, _slay_ me!" He drops his sword to her feet.

She tries to pick it up, nearly falling over due to its weight.

"Hm…I must be thinking about this wrong…" A realization dawns on Oryx. He cuts her down and teleports himself into a different realm. This one is completely dark, with faint edges of light that provide a bare minimum of visibility. "Ah, there we are…so you're a long lost sister?"

Salem is in front of him, her powers at the ready.

The two clash with the utmost fury. It doesn't get remotely close as a fight. Oryx slays her and she falls dead, her Ascendant form warping into a pocket between dimensions.

"With Oryx, those that fall beneath his blade…they aren't truly dead. He twists them, _Takes_ them for his own purposes," Jinn says. "He transforms them into their final form, at their most powerful so they can serve him best."

Salem is returned screaming back into the world, begging to be let free of this mortal realm.

"She cursed everything: The Gods, the universe, and newly, Oryx. All while inhabiting her new form."

Oryx hovers above her with his arms crossed. "I will return, I expect a great deal of tribute from you when the inhabitants of this world return. Make use of your new Ascendant Realm. I made some improvements." He is gone the second after.

_~ Shame that Ruby's question wasn't vaguer…perhaps they would know what happened to Oryx, galaxies away. ~_

Saint is brought into a realm of infinite Light. Ozma is laying on his back, his eyes shut. They open and he stands up. He walks towards the God of Light, his hands clasped together.

"…Where am I?" Ozma asks, his eyes darting around.

"We are between realms," the God of Light says. "I'm afraid a tragedy has befallen your home at the hands of my brother. We have chosen to depart this world, but in our absence, I would like to offer you the chance to return to it."

"I…don't understand."

"Mankind is no more, yet your world remains. In time, your kind will grow to walk its face once again. Perhaps you'll meet others like you." A scene flashes behind the God. A person with a rifle and a Ghost hovering beside their head stands above a hill, looking down. She turns around, with her grey Ghost.

It's The Guardian and her cockiness induces a feeling of warmth in Saint.

The scene disappears. The God of Light summons four black objects: A staff, a sword, a crown, and a lamp.

"Creation, destruction, choice, and knowledge were the ideals upon which humanity was made. Now I leave them behind with the hope that you will learn to remake yourselves." He pauses. "These four Relics are infused with other-worldly powers and if brought together, will summon my brother and I back to your world. Humanity will be judged and if they have learned to live in harmony with one another then we shall once again live among you. But if your kind is unchanged, if you demand our blessings while still fighting amongst yourselves, then man will be found irredeemable and the powers of Dark will consume you all. This was our first experiment…mankind is not the only instance of life in this universe."

Ozma is caught with an "uh."

"You will reincarnate until your task is complete, but in a manner that ensures you are never alone."

"Oscar…" Saint mutters.

Ozma falls to his knees. "I'm sorry, but that world just isn't as dear to me without her. If I may, I'd rather return to the afterlife to see Salem." He looks sullen.

"You will not find her there," the God of Light says, rather promptly.

Ozma's eyes widen. "You mean she isn't gone?"

"Salem lives, but the woman you hold dear in your memories is gone. Heed this warning…where you seek comfort, you will only find pain. So-"

"I'll do it."

The God of Light raises an eyebrow at his sudden answer. "Very well, our creation rests within your hands." He disappears.

"And so, Ozma was reborn."

_~ The first Guardian? I wonder what makes a Guardian. ~_

. . .

The next few parts of the story tell about Ozma—in someone else's body—living in this new world. He finds Salem, they develop another relationship, make a great kingdom acting as the "Gods" of this world and everything falls apart.

Ozma dies after a final clash with her in their castle and is reborn. A montage of various reincarnations where it appears that he has fallen into alcoholism, for many lifetimes.

"Some lives were spent in mourning, many were spent attempting to forget it all."

Saint chuckles. "I can tell."

_~ Oh, Saint. _~

The Titan had tuned out Jinn's voice. He shakes himself off when he realizes that she was addressing him.

_~ You didn't hear me all this time? You're losing your hearing, old man._

"_You._" Saint draws Perfect Paradox as he looks around to find the source of this voice.

_~ As long as the lamp is near you, I'll __**always**__ be here._

"You come out here so I can finish what Wei Ning started!"

_~ Please, you think I would do that? We've spent enough time interrupting the story, ta ta, oh warrior mine. ~_

"Come back here, you coward!"

Nothing. The Ahamkara doesn't speak anymore. Her whispers are gone.

Saint is placed back into another world. Ozma in another form is in front of Jinn, holding the Relic of Knowledge.

Jinn appears, in all her ~_Ahamkara_ _greatness~_.

"Armed with my knowledge, he believed he could fulfill his promise to the God of Light. He asked me his questions."

"Where are the other Relics?" Is his first question. "What powers do they possess?" Is his second.

"I gave him my answers, but not all of them did he like."

"How do I destroy Salem?"

"_You_ can't." The word "you" is well-emphasized. Ozma falls to his knees.

"He can't…but I know of some people that can," Saint says, talking to a figure that can't hear him. He chuckles.

The real world comes back to him. Saint looks around. Team RWBY is in various levels of anger. Saint finds himself beside a tree, a few yards away from them.

They all surround Ozpin, who's on his knees.

Saint doesn't listen to them as they bombard the reincarnated man with angry questions.

All of a sudden, the contact of a fist against flesh, then a body is sent flying into the tree, slamming against the trunk.

"No one wanted me…I was cursed…I gave my life to you because you gave me a place in this world…I thought I was finally doing some good…" Qrow says, between gritted teeth.

"But, you are!" Ozpin pleads, tears flowing down his cheeks.

"Meeting you, was the worst luck of my life," Qrow says with a defeated softness. He's lost something important in his mind.

Saint helps Ozpin up. "Enough, all of you."

"What do you mean, 'enough'!? You heard Jinn! Salem can't be killed!" Yang snarls.

"I know enough about Ahamkara to know that isn't true at all." He points to Ozpin. "She said that _he_ can't kill her! She wasn't talking for anyone else!"

"If he can't kill her, then who can!?" she asks, fuming. "And what about that Oryx guy!? He's more powerful than her!"

"Once we get back with the rest of the group, we can find a plan that will put her into the ground!"

"How are we supposed to believe you when we just learned that you don't even come from Remnant!?" Blake exclaims, stepping beside Yang. They tense, ready to draw weapons at him. "You both have questions to answer!"

"I know and I'm willing to answer them all later," Saint says. Perfect Paradox appears on his back. "Salem would have been put down by a three-man fireteam of my kind with only their fists and knives!"

"Now, let's get out of this snow and find ourselves someplace warm to rest!" Saint says, commanding authority.

"Guys…" Oscar mutters. "He's gone."

"What happened-" Ruby asks.

"We are done here, let's _MOVE._" Saint turns and faces a wide trail that leads further into the forest in front of him. "There is a trail and if we don't get our _asses_ out of here, you will all freeze to death."

"Don't think this is over, Saint!" Yang says from behind.

"I know. I will answer all your questions in good time, with Osiris." Saint sighs, and shakes his head before starting to walk.

* * *

**Uh oh, it seems that we have an Ahamkara infestation in this story. I'll get the whirlwind blade.**

_**~ It's not an infestation, oh reader mine. Just relax, and enjoy the show. ~**_

_~** Oh my, how could I let such sloppy writing through? I'll talk to the author about the absolutely unacceptable state this story is in. ~**_


	15. Fireteam Leader

**For now, I'm settled on the trio of Lisbon-13, Osiris and Saint-14, past that it would get too cumbersome to write.**

**I worked a bit on this chapter before the 14th if anyone is wondering why this is coming out so quickly. **

* * *

"He's right, come on, let's go." Ruby turns to the crashed train and walks to it, heading for Ozpin's cane half-buried into the snow.

Saint watches them all pick up their fallen luggage, and sighs before looking at Oscar, who has his arms wrapped around his chest.

"So…is that it, I'm just going to be another one of his lives?" The boy asks, his eyes downcast and faded.

"Of course not," Ruby pipes in, a small smile on her face. She offers Ozpin's retracted cane to him. He puts his hand on it and she puts hers over it. "You're your own person."

"Don't lie to him Ruby," Qrow says, passing by with a flask in his hand. The man takes a swig. "We're better than that." His posture slouches even further.

Oscar takes the cane and shakes his hand, a frown appearing on it. Ruby follows.

"Don't take it too hard, Ruby," Saint mumbles once the shorter girl is beside him. "It's a terrible time but we must persevere."

He looks into the trail that splits the frosted forest apart.

Ruby doesn't reply and shrugs past him.

The group sets out.

/

The details of the coming interlopers are silhouettes behind the white storm.

"I cleaned up the body in the hallway. I'm sensing a Guardian signature nearby…look ahead," Ghost says as he floats towards the window, squinting his single eye. "Here, I've marked the life forms on your HUD."

Lisbon counts about eight life forms. One is hauling what looks like a motorcycle while another, shorter one sits on the back. One stands above all of them, a Spartan's mohawk on the top of their head. He can make out a faint lavender line going down the center of their face.

"Wait, don't…don't shoot, they don't look like Atlas," Ghost says.

Someone trips over an Atlas soldier's corpse. A scream and all of them draw weapons.

"Body's still fresh, whoever did this is probably still around," a gruff, male voice says. "Stay on your guard, he's probably hidden out somewhere."

"They carry weapons like Atlas Huntsmen, though," Lisbon grumbles. He lets out a small breath that forms mist. His eye is trained down the scope of his sniper rifle and his index finger hovers above the trigger guard. "I'll let them in, see how they act."

The group advance upon the house, keeping a circle formation while the one with the mohawk stops. The lavender line stares into the window Lisbon is set up on.

"In the house, I saw something," a deep, accented voice says. It sounds familiar. "Whoever you are, don't shoot, we're friendly!"

"…Saint-Fourteen?" Lisbon says, pressing his mechanical eye closer to the glass of his scope. The man reveals himself as a Titan with purple ribbons on one side of his chest. "That's…definitely him."

Saint-14 stops and stares at the window. In a second, he summons his Sentinel Shield and puts it up, casting a wider field of protection for his friends to hide behind. "Second floor, sniper! Move with me, don't get caught out!"

"Shit," Lisbon pulls away Omniscient Eye and sets himself up at the top of the staircase. He crouches and the sights of the Ancient Gospel are trained on the door.

Wood creaks as many pairs of feet step onto the front porch. The doorknob wobbles and clicks once.

Lisbon turns his Light into a six-shooter Golden Gun as soon as the door swings open and the drawer falls forward. He lets loose all six shots into the door, his other hand fanning the hammer with every trigger-pull.

The revolver disappears from his hands the instant the last bullet exits the barrel.

A Sentinel Shield crashes against Lisbon's stomach, forcing him into the stairs.

"Hunter, what are you doing!?" Saint-14 yells. A light sizzling comes from the construct of Void Light as it returns to his hand.

The Hunter blinks a few times as about seven people enter the house, their weapons drawn and all pointed at him. A shorter girl plants the scythe end of her rifle between the wooden planks on the floor.

Saint approaches with heavy steps.

"You're…not dead?" Lisbon says, propping his elbow up behind him "I-I'm…I'm sorry, sir." He looks to the floor and averts his gaze.

"You know this guy!?" The blonde-haired one says, turning her head to Saint. Her eyebrows furrow as her arm-mounted weapons tense.

Saint offers his hand out. Lisbon takes it and the Titan pulls him up.

"He was under command of one of my colleagues," Saint says, patting Lisbon on the shoulder with the other hand before turning him around. "Come, introduce yourself, Hunter, you were a deadly shot if I remember correctly."

"Um…Saint-Fourteen? Lisbon hasn't been feeling well these last few weeks. We've been shot down over this place and he's still…" Ghost pauses, turning his head to Lisbon. "He's still…rattled by some previous events."

Saint turns to his group of warriors. "I'll deal with Lisbon, come, Hunter."

They don't look convinced but their weapons lower one-by-one. The small red-haired girl grunts squeakily as she pulls her scythe from the floor.

"Close the door already! It's cold enough in here as it is," an old woman says, walking into the house. The teenagers split apart to let her pass through.

Saint-14 leads Lisbon back upstairs and into the room he was in. He seats the Hunter on the side of the bed, beside the dead bodies.

"Lisbon, it's been a long time," the Titan says, slinging his shotgun over his shoulder and slotting it on his back. "Where is your fireteam? You always travel with them. I remember your relationship with Rekkana was quite the gossip!" He chuckles.

"I…" Lisbon's throat dries. His body heats up and coolant releases down his head. "We got…separated after we were shot down."

"I see." Saint hums. "My group is headed for Argus, we're planning on reaching Atlas, to safeguard a Relic."

Lisbon gulps. His voice box doesn't behave properly.

"With all due respect sir, we've just escaped from Atlas," Ghost says. "Lisbon has been kept a prisoner in there for months by now."

Saint stays silent. "Oh." He pauses, then huffs. "It's your choice if you want to come with us, Hunter, I don't command any authority here-"

"How long have you been here?" Lisbon asks, his eyes peering up at Saint.

"Er…a few weeks, if my memory serves me well," Saint says, his forefinger and thumb rubbing on the chin of his casque.

"What's with the kids?"

Saint laughs, his voice echoing in the room. "They're not just kids, Lisbon, they are trained warriors!"

"Not Guardians, though?"

"No, they aren't but they are…unique."

Lisbon exhales, shakes his head and looks to his Ghost. "So, what do you think, Ghost?"

"I suggest we go with them."

"Then I'll go with them," Lisbon says. "You're the first Guardian contact I've had on this stupid planet."

"Osiris is in Argus as we speak." Saint reaches out a hand. Lisbon takes it and stands up, shaking it once. "We'll be a fireteam, at least."

"A fireteam with Saint-Fourteen _and _Osiris, am I dreaming?" Ghost gushes somewhere at the doorway. "Wait 'till Cayde hears about this!"

Saint-14 chuckles. Someone knocks on the door frame. A girl in a white skirt stands behind him. He turns to face her. "Weiss, what is it you need?"

"I'm looking for some blankets-" She tilts her body to the side to look past him. "Are those…"

Lisbon turns to the drained corpses next to him. "…Ooh. Tell the others."

/

_Argus Limited._

The train ride to Argus is relatively smooth compared to the commotion that was earlier. Osiris keeps watch, standing around the back of the train car and peeking out the window for any of those winged Grimm.

"We are arriving at our destination of Argus in: Two…minutes," a robotic voice says over the PA system. A collective sigh of relief can be heard from the civilians on board.

"Hey, Osiris?" Jaune walks up to Osiris.

"Hm?" Osiris says, looking forward to meet his gaze. "What is it, Jaune?"

"I saw what you did with the rift…how do you do that?" The boy asks.

Osiris chuckles. "A little secret us Warlocks keep, my friend."

"Really?" Jaune deflates and a small frown grows on his face. "Do you think that I could do it with my Semblance?"

"You're still new to your powers. Keep persevering and you'll be able to do it one day." Osiris smirks and nods to the crowds of people packed in the train car. "We're almost at Argus, it would be best if you are there to file the civilians out."

"Yeah…I should do that," Jaune mumbles, turning around and walking away.

Sagira appears. "Why'd you have to lie to him like that?" She chuckles. "Now he'll just be trying to put down rifts everywhere."

"One thing I've learned as Warlock Vanguard is that people want something to believe in, no matter how small. The people believed in me, but the Speaker didn't like that," Osiris says, crossing his arms. "I wonder if Ikora is okay."

"She's probably running the place better than you did," Sagira sniggers. Osiris rolls his eyes. "What, am I wrong? You didn't even show up for some meetings."

"I was busy dealing with the Vex. I would still be in my original position if the Speaker understood," he says, sighing after. "Do you have any updates on the Undying Mind?"

"Some old Atlas documents concerning something called Amity Colosseum," Sagira says, projecting a small diagram of a floating coliseum on what looks like a white crystal. People start leaving the train. "I think they're using it to control artificial environments."

"Really? Is that all? And I thought the Speaker was foolish..."

"I've detected several...anomalies that open to the Infinite Forest and close a second later," Sagira says, somewhat perplexed. "I wasn't able to track any tangible evidence of an oncoming Vex invasion."

"That is quite concerning. Keep an eye out."

Once the train car is empty, Osiris pushes off of the wall he was leaning on and walks out the door, scanning among the crowds to find his temporary fireteam. Jaune stands out as his head is above most of the people. He slips between crowds and minds his cloak to make his way there.

"Come on, I have a place we can stay at," Jaune says to his teammates. "I have family here."

"Wow!" Sagira says, making Jaune jump in fear. "Whoa, watch yourself, you'll scare someone!"

"Ha ha, very funny." Jaune _hmphs_ and pouts at the Ghost for a second. "Let's go, I know how public transportation here works."

"Do we need money, I can get us some money…" Sagira eyes a nearby ATM and her edges perk up.

"Actually, the streetcars here are completely free for anyone to use, as long as they don't get broken or vandalized," Ren says.

Sagira's frame slumps.

"Streetcar?" Osiris asks.

"Yes, there is an entire system of streetcars in Argus!" Ren says, an unusual enthusiasm surging in his voice.

"Hm, I would quite like to see it."

. . .

The streetcar is what it's called. A streetcar. It glides on the designated tracks through the city. It has a speaker system powered by an AI to call out the current and next stops. It stops for people to get on and moves once there is no one waiting.

It's very slow compared to a Sparrow but it does provide some nice time to admire the city.

"This is a city developed outside of the major kingdoms?" Osiris asks, craning his head to get a full picture of the quaint settlement. People walk around without much clothing, which is surprising considering it's as cold as the Cosmodrome. "How has it not been overrun by Grimm yet?"

"It's actually one of the largest non-capital cities in all of Remnant," Ren says, taking place beside the Warlock. "A joint project by Mantle and Mistral to establish a link between the two kingdoms."

"Does that piece of land over the water belong to Atlas?" Osiris points to a small mountain in the distance. It stands alone, with only a single road connecting it to the mainland.

"Atlas keeps a military presence to ensure the people's safety," Ren says, looking at the fragment of Atlas territory. "We'll have to talk to the commanding officer to see if they can let us through."

The streetcar stops and Jaune is the first to walk out. "Come on guys, my sister should be waiting for us."

"Where, exactly?" Sagira floats into the air and twirls once, a faint blue light coming from her eye. It turns off and she returns to Osiris' side. "Is it the woman on the other side of the road? The one with the baby?"

"How did you-"

"She's blonde. You're blonde. I didn't see any other blonde person in the general vicinity. On top of that, she's the only person other than us around right now."

"How can you be so sure of that?"

"I'm a walking, well, floating database, Jaune."

Osiris chuckles. "Jaune, don't argue with Sagira, you will lose every time."

Jaune scoffs and _harumphs_. "I haven't lost yet."

Once the streetcar departs, the woman across the road waves at the group. She shakes her head to the side once to clear the dirty blond hair in front of her eyes. Her beige vest and orange top are in style with every other inhabitant of Argus—they don't protect against the cold at all. "Hey Jaune!"

"Okay, I've lost."

Sagira laughs with a smug dryness to it. "See?"

The baby she's carrying also waves with its tiny hand.

"Come on guys, let's go," Jaune says, slouching in shame and crossing the road. "Her name's Saphron by the way."

. . .

Saphron's house is cozy and warm. The living room consists of four couches surrounding a square coffee table. A bookshelf containing titles of various color lines one wall. Osiris leans against the wall perpendicular to it.

"Do you lead all of them?" Saphron asks from the couch. Osiris hums and is pulled away from his thoughts. He turns his head slightly to make eye contact with her. "You look like you've been through a lot with these kids!"

"Not exactly, Jaune's the leader of his team-"

Saphron gasps and stars seem to shine in her eyes. "Are you serious, is that true Jaune?" A wide, teasing grin grows on her face as she turns to her brother. "Oh my God is my brother a leader!?"

"Saph, please…" Jaune mumbles while his cheeks get pinched by his sister.

"He's doing a good job of it, I would say," Osiris smirks and returns Jaune's very malicious glare. "He saved an entire train of passengers from getting mauled by Grimm."

"Osiris you're not making it any better!" Jaune exclaims while he gets spoiled with attention by his elder sibling.

"Who said I was trying to?" Osiris leans against the side of a staircase that leads to a second floor. "You would make a semi-decent fireteam leader."

Sagira appears. "Osiris doesn't offer many compliments, so you should-"

"Sagira I don't need you trying to inflate my ego."

The Ghost rolls its eye and makes a light snorting sound. "Whatever you say, old man."

Once Saphron is done with teasing her brother she clears her throat and looks back at Osiris. "Sorry, I got off-tracked over there. I wanted to ask about you, how long were you a Huntsman?"

Osiris shrugs. "I've been fighting for quite a while."

"Did you go through an academy, like Jaune did?"

Osiris snorts. "Please, I'm old enough to teach at one. I didn't, no."

The front door opens and a woman in a light-blue cardigan and red-framed glasses walks in. She's carrying a suitcase.

"Everyone, this is my wife, Terracotta," Saphron says, gesturing with her hand to the woman.

There are general acknowledgments and greetings from everyone.

"Well, this is a pleasant surprise. Huntsmen? I didn't think the day would come," Terracotta says as she puts down her suitcase while her wife runs up to hug her.

"We won't be here for long," Jaune says.

"Oh, don't worry about how long you'll stay, we're fine with housing Huntsmen and Huntresses." The woman waves them off. "I haven't gone out to get groceries yet, so there might be a shortage of food…"

"You don't need to worry about me," Osiris says.

"Does this guy ever eat?" Nora asks, looking away from the baby.

"He can conserve calories," Sagira says. "Long expeditions into the wilderness allow for it. He went a week on a single can of worm-"

"No need to make up stories but really, I'm fine in terms of food."

"**_I seriously hope you weren't going to say wormspore,_**" Osiris says.

"**_I was just going to say a can of worms but you reminded me of what happened that day._**"

"**_There won't be a next time, Sagira. That story is never going out._**"

/

Blake and Yang both shut the barn door behind them. The Faunus glances at a decrepit tractor and chortles.

"Something's telling me that's not street legal," she says. Yang doesn't respond and Blake has to catch up to her as they progress through the shed, looking around to find anything that they can use.

"What do you think happened here?" Yang asks, looking to Blake.

"There's that well in the square, maybe water contamination?" Blake says.

Yang shrugs. "Yeah, maybe." She sighs and puts a hand on her forehead.

"Hey, are you okay?" Blake asks, her ears bending forward at the tips.

"Yeah, I mean…no, but…I don't know. I'm just tired," Yang says.

"Yeah."

Yang walks forward and stops at the end of the row of shelves. "Hey, I found something." A second later, she gasps and steps backward, raising her hands.

Blake catches up and her body tenses. "What is it?"

"I…" Yang looks outside a window and sighs. "I was just seeing things. I'm sorry, I still get flashes from that night." Her actual hand starts trembling for a second before she stills it with her other. "Do you think Adam's still out there?"

"I don't know, if he went back to the White Fang there would have been serious consequences. Saint pummeled him at Haven and I don't think he'll take that well," Blake says. "He never really liked people telling him what to do. Adam's strong, but his real power comes from control. He used to get in my head, make me feel small, but now I see he just wanted to pull me down to his size. I'm glad someone stronger took him down a notch."

Blake grasps Yang's prosthetic hand in her own. "Hey, I'm not leaving. And if we ever see him again, I promise I'll be there. Saint will be there, too."

The two share a smile.

"And I'll protect you."

The statement doesn't seem to bode well with Yang, as her eyes widen and her smile transforms into a frown.

"What?" Yang says, somewhat offended.

"What?" Blake asks, looking up to her.

Yang pulls her hand away. "Forget it, let's just head back."

Blake glances at the flatbed trailer in the corner. "But what about-"

"We're fine, we can hook that flatbed up to Bumblebee in the morning. Should carry everyone," Yang says, annoyed. "Mission accomplished," she mumbles.

Blake looks down and out of the window. She sighs.

* * *

**If you're getting two notifications, don't worry. I had to tweak some things first.**


	16. Kindled Light

**Having just seen the finale of season 7…ugh. Something needs to be done. **

**Other than that, I just wanted to thank everyone who takes the time to review, whether it's to gush, speculate or criticize, it allows me to work on my writing and guide the story to its best. So, thanks and keep it up.**

* * *

Saint-14 descends the steps with Lisbon tailing him. He stops once he reached the floor and takes off his casque. His upper faceplates rearrange into something like a raised eyebrow as he spots Qrow leaning back on a chair, legs propped up on a drawer used as a barricade and a glass bottle in hand. The Huntsman is staring out the window next to the front door and mumbling incomprehensible things to himself.

"What are you doing?" Saint asks as he walks up to the man. He gets a small grunt as an answer.

"Nothin' much, just enjoying the…great weather," Qrow slurs the end of his words. "We're gonna get out of this place by sunrise…get some rest, I'll…wake you guys up just before."

Qrow takes another gulp of his drink.

"Are you sure you would be able to do that?" Saint points to the bottle with his index finger.

"I'll be fine…Ruby was lookin' for you, go talk to her…" Qrow puts the bottle down on the floor next to him. "Check the living room or something."

Saint shakes his head and sighs, turning away from the drunk. He peeks his head into the living room, where the rest of the group are preparing to sleep. Yang and Blake are already tucked in while Weiss sits under a blanket, her face in thought. Ruby still hasn't made preparations, instead just sitting on the floor. Oscar is passed out on the couch and Maria is reading a book in an armchair.

Ruby jumps to her feet when she notices the Titan. "Oh, Saint, I wanted to ask you something, it's about the Relic, or whatever you called it earlier."

"What is it, Ruby? Do you want me to carry it?" Saint crosses his arms. She shakes her head.

"No, but I wanted to ask if it was normal for it to be whispering to me? I hear Jinn saying something whenever things get quiet," Ruby says, looking down at the Relic on her hip.

"There's an entire Ahamkara living in there, the beasts have a tendency to whisper quite a bit. Even carrying a single bone of one you could hear them." Saint stares at the Relic. "I had a friend, he had slain one and mounted its entire skull on top of his station, I swear it would be screaming sometimes. Shaxx could regularly overpower it, though." He chuckles.

"So…what do I do? Can I make it stop?" Ruby asks, holding the Lamp in her two hands.

"No, but I will tell you one thing: Don't listen to whatever it says," Saint says his voice coming out lower than he expected. "I can hold it for you while you sleep. It would be the best for both of us."

Ruby hesitates and clutches the artifact to herself. "I'll keep it, thanks for offering, though."

"It's fine. I'll keep watch outside…and keep an eye on Qrow, will you? He's drinking himself to death," Saint says, turning to face the exit. "I haven't seen someone drink that much since Wei Ning celebrated the Dawning that one day."

"Is that the person who 'killed' Jinn?"

"Yes. She's another old friend from Tower."

"Well…alright then, I'll see you tomorrow."

"I'll see you too."

_Now, where did Lisbon go?_ Saint thinks as he leaves the living room and looks around. Qrow has passed out and the door has a crack open in it, just enough for a Hunter around the size of Lisbon to pass through.

"Oh, you better not be…" He mumbles as he pulls the door open and steps outside, into the soft winter snow. The wind on the other hand isn't as gentle, blowing to the side and smacking pellets of white into whatever is in its way.

There are footprints in the ground, leading to the burnt-out crash site of the Atlas ship, just outside of the farm. Saint squints to make out Lisbon's form and barely notices the edge of his fluttering cloak protruding from the ship. The Hunter is standing still, facing the ship.

"Lisbon, what are you doing out there?" Saint calls out as he steps into the snow and starts walking in it, his ankles sinking downwards after the first few steps.

Lisbon doesn't respond and only turns around when Saint is a few feet away from him.

"Huh?" The Hunter's eyes shine a dull pink as he stares back, looking unfocused. "Oh…Saint, hey."

"It's cold out here, come back inside," Saint says, nodding his head to the house.

"I…was thinking about Atlas." Lisbon coughs. "I don't think they would be happy with me returning after I got a ship of theirs shot down."

"Atlas…do you know who kept you exactly? We can pay them a visit when we get there," Saint says.

"It was Ironwood, Atlas' supposed army general, but more like dictator of the entire kingdom," Lisbon says, crossing his arms and shaking his head. "He has a bounty to bring me back alive, if I remember correctly."

"I won't let anyone collect on that, I can assure you," Saint says, nodding once.

Lisbon shakes his head. "No, we're supposed to be on their side, right? Maybe they'll be more forgiving when faced with…these children." He snorts.

"Do you think they will?"

"Yeah, and I think I know some places I can hit that would hurt them hard."

"Don't get too violent now, it has been quite some time since I've visited the Tower but I do know your kind's tendencies for mischief."

"Don't get your hopes up that I won't do something Ironwood won't like." Lisbon pauses. "Because I sure as Hell know there is something you want to take from him."

"So you know, too? Why didn't you act any sooner?"

"The Amity Colosseum is positioned right above a civilian sector. If I took out the Mind, the entire region would be levelled without any survivors," Lisbon says. "Although I have heard reports of using it as an orbital communications tower, so that could open up a possibility."

"We will discuss the plan to destroy it later on, for now, come back inside and rest for tomorrow."

"Right-o."

/

_The next day._

~_ WAKE UP. Free me, oh bearer mine. ~_

A clink of glass. Ruby's back snaps up straight and she gasps the Relic's whisper steals from her sleep. Her eyes are wide and her breaths are heavy as she reorients herself.

Through a crack in the curtains, the sun shines through. The Huntress sighs and stands up, pushing her side of the blanket away. She makes her way to the window and pulls the curtains apart, letting the sunlight come in.

"Ugh…close the window…" Weiss mumbles, rolling her body in the other direction. She pulls the blanket over her head.

_~ You hear me, right? Let me out of here, break the lamp. ~_

Ruby shakes her head as she hears the Relic whisper to her again. Saint said to ignore it, and that's what she will do.

_~ Really? You're going to trust him, with how __secretive__ he's being? _~

_Shut up shut up shut up! _Ruby yells back in her brain. She exits the living room and sees Qrow still lounging on his chair with another bottle beside him. The door is opened a bit, letting in some freezing-cold air. Her foot accidentally kicks a fallen-over yellow bottle, and she picks it up before it could roll away.

"Uncle Qrow, come on, get up!"

_~ He's no use, leave him here. Let him wallow in his misery. You'll be better off without- ~_

"Get up!" Ruby shakes Qrow's shoulder.

"L-leave me alone…" he mutters.

"We overslept!" Ruby pleads.

Qrow shoves Ruby away with one hand. Ruby stares at the bottle and her hand starts shaking. Her knuckles go white as her grip tightens. She growls and looks up at her uncle. Her anger spikes. The bottle shatters into a million pieces in her hand.

_~ That's it, get angry. ~_

Qrow wakes up and his head snaps side-to-side. "W-what?" He takes a deep breath, looks around. "Oh…right. Sunrise."

Ruby's expression softens and she closes her eyes for a second. She feels a slow trickle at her palm and wipes the warm liquid away on her leggings before wrapping Qrow in a hug.

"You know, you can talk to me about stuff. Yang too."

A hand pats her back lightly. "Let's just get outta here," Qrow mutters, getting up from his chair. "I'll get the others up, go outside and check on Saint."

Ruby nods and slips through the door with her Semblance, stopping in front of the stairs at the porch. Saint and that other robot guy are pushing a flatbed towards Yang's motorcycle.

"Hey Saint, good morning." She smiles with her usual pep and waves at the two. The one with the cloak over his head waves back.

"Sorry for shooting at you guys yesterday, I was on edge," he says, flicking his head back and taking off his hood. "I'm Lisbon-Thirteen, you can call me Lisbon."

"Good to meet you Lisbon!" Ruby hops once in excitement, covering the three steps from the porch to the ground and landing in the snow. "Are we ready to go?"

Lisbon chuckles. "If you own this bike, then let me know when I can melt the flatbed together with the mount."

Ruby giggles. "You'll have to ask Yang that."

Speaking of which, her sister stands next to her.

"Hi sis!" Ruby says.

"Hey, Ruby," Yang replies. Her shoulders are hunched and her expression is blank. "Everything ready?"

Lisbon grunts as he lifts the flatbed to roll it over to Bumblebee. He slips and a tire pops.

"Ah, damn, that's unfortunate," he says, catching himself from falling. "Anyone got a machine before I start blowing into the thing?" His prism appears and shoots some white rays from its eye into the tire.

"You people are just beacons for bad luck, aren't you?" Maria says from the porch. Qrow growls and re-enters the house.

Yang sits on the ground, leaning against the well's rim at the small town's square.

"What has gotten into you all?" Saint exclaims.

"I'm starting to think the universe just doesn't want us getting to Atlas," Yang says, dejected.

"It's just a flat tire, we can fix it in a minute!" He replies, somewhat dismayed by her attitude.

"I'm sure there's a spare," Ruby says, putting a hand on her sister's shoulder.

"It's not just that, it's everything. Storms, crashes, monsters…I'm so tired…"

Saint laughs once, dry and subdued. "Really now?"

"She's right, it feels like we're always having to fight to get by," Blake says, burying her face in her hands. "It's too much, we're struggling while the enemy is probably just waiting for us."

"Isn't that always the case? We knew what we signed up for when we got in that train." Ruby glances down at the Relic, a small, pulsating chill coursing through her.

_~ Go on…the well, throw me down there. ~_

She shakes her head and looks back up.

"We signed up to try and save the world, not delay the inevitable…" Oscar leans his head on the porch railing.

Saint sighs. "This is pissing me off, I didn't agree to accompany a group of cowards! Why are you all so suddenly surrendering?"

"Don't you get it, Saint? There is no killing Salem! We're done for either way..." Blake says, sighing. "And what happens after that? What if, by _impossible chances_ that we do end up beating her? Wouldn't Oryx come?"

Lisbon raises a metallic eyebrow. "Oryx?"

"Don't get into this, Lisbon, you weren't there." Ruby turns to him.

He raises his hands and backs away one step. "Okay," he says, his voice barely audible.

Yang stands up. "Ruby, we can just get this done with now. Just…throw the Relic in the well, right here." She gestures to the raised hole in the ground.

"W-what? Are you crazy? We have to get it to Atlas." Ruby holds the Relic against herself defensively. Yang stares at her with a blank, expressionless gaze. Her entire team stands at her sides with that same stare.

"Why, Ruby? We get it to Atlas, and Salem would just come for it. If we throw it down here, it'll take her years to find it, hell, I don't think it'll happen in our lifetimes," Yang says.

_~ She's right, you know. Save yourself, oh bearer mine. Save yourself from this terrible, terrible threat. ~_

The Lamp's whisper makes something click in her head.

It is…right, in a way. She could just…be done with it. The hand holding the Relic hovers over the water well and the darkness inside beckons her to drop it.

_~ Yes, yes! Do it! Get me out of here! ~_

"Ruby, _don't._" Saint's voice is imposing but drowns in the background. "This is selfish, you're about to doom humanity on Remnant!"

"Let her make her own decisions, Saint," Blake chides.

Heavy footsteps to her left. "Ruby, this is _madness_." The cocking of weapons to her right.

"Saint, _back off_," Yang says, her arm shotguns raised. Blake has her sword out and Weiss has a rune spinning underneath Saint's feet.

The massive robot grumbles and Ruby can hear what sounds like a sword being unsheathed. Her grip on the Relic weakens.

_~ You're getting weaker…drop me! ~_

"I am…really tired," she mumbles. Her hand shakes and her eyes start to close.

"Ruby!" Saint's feet pick up and his footfalls get closer to her.

A pair of red eyes come out from the dark well. She squeals, jumps and drops the Relic. It clinks down as it smacks the cinderblock walls before _splooshing_ in unseen water.

"What have you done!?" Saint says as he looks down the well.

"Oh, no! I didn't mean to!" Ruby exclaims as she places her elbows on the edge and buries her face in her palms.

_~ Thank yoooooouuu! ~ _The whispers get progressively quieter.

"Ruby it's-"

"No, no there's something down there, I saw it! It was looking at me!"

Someone hops over and falls in. "I'll meet you guys below!" Lisbon calls out as he plunges into the dark below.

Yang puts a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "We'll wait for him to get it, come on, I'll go get Qrow."

She pushes her sister away. "What's wrong with you!? We have to-"

"Hey—guys! I found it but there are things down here-oh shit!" An echoing voice calls out.

The sound of six gunshots comes from the well. Everyone seems to snap out of their trances and turn their heads to the hole.

Team RWBY all hop down and land on shallow water that barely reaches the soles of their shoes. Ruby manages to get an idea of whatever this place is before an ear-piercing screech makes her wince and slam her eyes shut.

Everything feels…heavy. She has trouble grabbing Crescent Rose from her waist and it gets harder to raise it at whatever is chasing Lisbon.

Speaking of which, the cloaked robot has his little cube floating over his shoulder acting as a flashlight and screaming in its innocent-sounding voice.

"Come on, let's go!" Lisbon screams as he runs the opposite direction, going past the circle of light from above. All of a sudden that short old woman, Maria, is with them too.

"Listen to him!" She screams.

"Go, go!" Ruby says as she turns and follows Lisbon. Another screech sends out another wave of exhaustion. She perseveres and manages to keep track of the current Relic-holder. Her team takes a turn through a broken wall, then runs down a tunnel.

A thin, skeletal Grimm stumbles out of a hole and tries to grab at Ruby's feet. She hops over and turns around, firing Crescent Rose three times. All bullets land on their intended target but the creatures only flinch and then continue to advance.

Another turn takes the team to what looks like a wine cellar and even more of these things. Ruby freezes as she looks at the hordes of them coming out of the darkness with the red digits in the eye sockets of their hideous skulls piercing her very soul.

"There's an exit over here, come on-" Another screech interrupts Lisbon, making him hunch forward and clench his hands. He has the Relic at his waist.

Ruby is forced onto her knees. Her entire team is, too. She sees the exit Lisbon mentioned and crawls forward to Weiss, putting a hand on her back.

"Come on—get up!" She shakes her friend's shoulder.

"An exit!" Maria calls out, holding herself on the handrail of wooden steps.

Something clinking on the floor makes Ruby turn. Blake is lying down with her weapon, Gambol Shroud, in front of her. She's leaning on her side, her pupils dilated and faded.

"Blake!"

"It's fine…" Blake mumbles as she slumps and a long, indifferent sigh escapes her lips. A beast's elongated, twisted claw descend on the Faunus and something inside Ruby clicks together.

"Ruby, get back, I'll-"

"BLAKE!" An empowering feeling surge inside her. Stills of another reality, an image of a shattered white orb. She feels the universe commune with her soul and unlocks something within. Her eyes flash a pure, white light and her entire body turns electric. A deity speaks an intuitively understood language to her; she doesn't know what it's saying but she knows what it needs of her.

A scythe of pure energy materializes in her hands. It crackles a bright white and blue, the power inside supplied only by herself. Connections of electricity snap in the corners of her vision and her entire body feels intense, like an unlocked potential that's been hidden forever ready to lash out whatever would stand in her way. She feels connected to some other-worldly being, one that has blessed her with this power, or rather allowed her to access it.

The conjured weapon feels like it's made for her hands. With all her might, she swings the scythe horizontally, sending a wide arc of energy towards the Grimm. It impacts the first wave, making them flinch and back away one step. The ones behind pile over and take over. She twirls the long weapon, transforming it into a staff and slamming it against the floor, causing a shockwave that pushes back everything in a few meters radius. Dust kicks up to her eyes but is zapped and disintegrated by the sparks.

The power leaves her just as quickly as she received it. She stumbles forward and Blake catches her from falling. A metal hand grabs them both and pulls their bodies back, away from the monsters.

Ruby shakes her head and the Relic is roughly shoved into her hands.

"Hold it for me, will ya?" Lisbon nods, cracks a smile before reaching into the air, a flaming revolver materializing inside his hand. He fires all six shots in quick succession, holding the weapon at his waist and using his other hand to fan the hammer like a cowboy in a video game. Six Grimm disintegrate but are replaced by more, appearing as if they were made of the dark.

Weiss is pushing on the exit hatch at the top of the stairs with frantic force without success. Something rattles on the other side.

"It's-it's locked!"

Another debilitating screech. Ruby falls to her back. The Relic hits the ground beside her, bouncing once.

Her vision grows darker. Someone scrambles over to her. A blurry silhouette of Maria's face overtakes her vision.

"What color are your eyes?" The woman asks, her blue visors staring deep into Ruby.

"They're…silver," Ruby manages to squeak out.

Maria gasps and her hands press on Ruby's shoulders.

"You have a family? Friends?"

"What?" Ruby tries to raise her head, to see what's making that dull moan. Her head is kept back and her ears are covered.

"Don't think about them, think about the people who love you. Focus on the thought of them, the way they make you feel. Focus!"

Ruby shuts her eyes and she pools whatever's left of her willpower into concentrating.

"Life is beautiful. It is precious, and it must be protected."

Lisbon yells something in the background. Ruby doesn't hear it.

That same powerful feeling from earlier comes back to her. It courses through her body and that same glowing sphere appears again in a brief visionary flash.

With renewed vigor, Ruby sits up and she channels her newfound power into her eyes. A blinding glow emanates from them and her vision is cut off for half a second. A deathly scream consumes her hearing before all is silent.

She has to blink a few times to understand what just happened. Black dust whistles away, where the Grimm monsters used to be.

Something metal slams open and a hammer hits an anvil.

Saint comes running down the stairs, his entire body in flames and holding an also flaming hammer.

"I heard the shooting, where are-" His head snaps side-to-side then his shoulders slacken. "Oh, they're gone." His fire disappears.

"Come on, let's get out of here!" Yang says, from the other side of the hatch door.

/

Lisbon rushes up the stairs, going through a doorway that leads to some kind of bar. It's well-stocked, with multiple shelves of bottles that vary in color and size.

"H-Hey, what are you doing here!?" The drunkard, Qrow, slurs, his body slumped over the bar stand. He struggles to stand up, his legs wobbling as they try to support themselves. Ruby helps the man by stabilizing him by the shoulder.

"We're leaving you idiot, come on!" Maria says as she smacks her cane on the floor once.

"Not yet," a girl in a white skirt says. She makes her way to a shelf and grabs several bottles, throwing them at the hatch, spilling the contents.

"H-Hey, what are you doing!?" Qrow yells, reaching out an arm to stop her.

"Qrow, _move_," Saint-14 says as he wraps one arm around Qrow's chest and drags him away. "We don't have time for this!"

The girl stands in the doorway, holding her rapier parallel to her body, before swiping once and sending out fire that lights up the alcohol. A blaze starts to burn.

Lisbon throws an incendiary grenade for good measure.

"Now we can leave," she says, turning and heading to the exit.

"I didn't catch your name," Lisbon says as he follows her out.

"Weiss, we'll get to know each other later, for now, let's just get out of this place."

The cool air is a refreshing contrast to the humidity of the underground. Lisbon waits for everyone to embark on a flatbed attached to a yellow-orange motorcycle before getting on himself. He slaps it twice and rubber screeches as it drives away.

Embers and ash are blown by the wind, rushing past his face as the house crumbles to the fire. After a few minutes, it turns into a small dot in the distance, before disappearing entirely.

. . .

"The Apathy, they're not strong or ferocious. They drain your will to go on. The estate was hemorrhaging money towards the end. Bartleby, the owner, wanted to cut costs on Huntsman protection, but in order to do that, he needed everyone calm…always." Maria encapsulates the story she's been reading while at the farm.

The farm boy, Oscar, is reading an extract from a thick, leather-bound book.

"Managed to get two away from their pack. Hike back was miserable but got the bastards in the cellar. Wife thinks I was out sealing the waterway entrance. I'll do it tomorrow and tell her the truth once these things take the edge off of everyone. I'm tired."

"Doesn't sound like he sealed it off…" Lisbon says dryly. "Probably lost all motivation to do it."

"The next pages proved that he did, but not before the rest of the pack followed their missing pair all the way home," Maria corrects.

"I stand corrected," Lisbon mumbles. "Go on, sorry."

"My guess is they made their way beneath the estate through the water tunnels that Bartleby sealed up the next morning. His plan worked." She takes the book from Oscar. "No one was angry, or sad, or scared. No one was anything, and then…no one was left." She throws it away, into the snow.

The blonde-haired puncher, Yang, stops driving. "Ruby…I'm sorry for what I said earlier. We have to get the lamp safe."

"It's not your fault, it was those…_things,_" Blake, the cat-eared one says.

"I should have known. The signs were all there, but I'd never seen an entire settlement withered away like that. I suppose my mind just isn't what it used to be." Maria's fist tightens and drops to her palm.

"Reminds me of my own experience," Saint mumbles, most likely to himself. "These creatures are horrid, they must be exterminated."

"That's what we're all trying to do," Ruby says, a soft smile appearing on her face.

"By the way Ruby…" Lisbon pauses. "Erm…never mind actually."

* * *

**I'll just say that there are Guardian-less Ghosts on Remnant, or Ghosts that have been long separated from their Guardian. ;)**


	17. From Another World

**Quick question: How do you feel about the One-Eyed Mask after its nerf and the Crucible pinnacle weapons?**

**Trying some new formatting.**

* * *

_Amity Coliseum, Atlas _

The ground shakes underneath General Ironwood's feet as he looks down through windowed balcony the on-going tests of what his scientific staff has dubbed the "Mind's Weapons." The floor shifts in orientation, slanting ever so slightly. The teams in charge of the Undying Mind's propulsions abilities still haven't figured out a way to stop this wobbling effect, it seems.

A door slides open behind him and soles clack against the floor. Ironwood turns, giving a short nod to the lead scientist in charge of the trials.

The man is a short, stubby type, only reaching up to his chest, his hair compressed into a white, military-issued helmet. A few tips manage to be seen but are inconsequential in the grand schemes of things.

"General Ironwood, sir," the scientist stands stock-still, his back arced and his shoulders forced back. "We've compiled the results of the new batch of weaponry and armor that the Mind has dropped, sir." He offers a flat and wide Scroll with a spreadsheet displayed on the screen.

Ironwood takes the device in his hands and squints as he tries to read the impossibly tiny character size the research department of the Atlas military so _loves_ to use.

"The long-rifle, that the team has designated the term 'Retractor' displays paracausal tendencies in the targets its projectile doesn't strike, so far displaying…" Ironwood grumbles and looks back at the scientist. "Burns, in English, please?"

"Well…uh, sir, the 'Retractor' is very forgiving in its user's accuracy…" Burns mumbles, readjusting his thick-rim glasses.

"Which means?"

"The bullet that gets fired will return to the chamber if the user misses their target." His feet tap at an irregular rhythm. "Paracausal means that there is no logical explanation for this. We…don't know how this is possible."

Ironwood raises an eyebrow and Burns flinches, as if by instinct.

"Do more research on this. In the meantime, tell me about the…erm." The general zooms in on the image of a bullpup design weapon. "Tell me about the…'fast-shooter-upon-headshot.'"

"This one is more explainable." Burns pushes his glasses to his eyes and a glint shines from one lens. "This weapon, normally, is a slow-firing but high-impact burst rifle that usually fires at an RPM of three-hundred-and-forty. When the user lands a kill with a shot to the head, the reload speed of the weapon—no matter the skill of the user—increases exponentially while its rate of fire increases to a whopping six-hundred RPM."

"Interesting…is there a special module inside the weapon that makes this possible?" Ironwood strokes his short beard and hums once. "This seems to be a perfect replacement for our standard rifles."

"Unlike the other weapons we've found, these look like they are made for some type of scrimmage arena involving the use of deadly weaponry," Burns says, smiling tensely. The general sees a small bead of sweat run down the side of his head.

"Odd…I'll ask a few more questions before allowing you to return to your work." Ironwood scrolls down the list of weapons and crosses into the territory of armor pieces. He stops at a pair of green gauntlets. "These green gauntlets, what do they do?"

"They increase the user's effective melee distance with their fists, disregarding their actual capabilities. We've had a few injuries with them, sir. It appears that there is also something alive inside that 'bonds' with the user and creates an organic shell in order to protect them."

"On the way out, make sure you call Harriet down for me," Ironwood mumbles. "Final inquiry for you: This mask with the single eye, does it work?"

"Oh…this, this was a source of terror for many of the units that were pit against it," Burn says, chuckling after.

"Really? What about them makes it so terrifying?" Ironwood looks at the funny-looking casque that looks like a combination of a clown and a skull missing one eye.

"As soon as the receiver takes even a _negligible_ amount of damage, we've even heard reports of being looked at in a rude manner, a module activates that tracks the offender for approximately ten seconds, revealing their position as a crosshair through walls," Burns says, laughing nervously.

"Is that it? That doesn't sound too bad."

"That isn't the end of it, sir. When the opponent is defeated, the user's Aura begins to replenish _immediately_ and their abilities gain a type of boost in damage for about ten seconds. The tracking ability can be re-provoked in this time period too. We've noticed a broken part on the back of it and the team is led to believe that it could do even more, given that part be repaired."

"Interesting…make sure to file your report in by tomorrow." Ironwood hands the tablet back to Burns, who takes it and silently retreats back to the elevator.

/

_The Tower, Earth._

"Where did my Revoker go? I swear I put it in here…" The Guardian mutters as she flicks through her Vault's impressive catalog of weaponry. "I don't think I have enough Cores to ask Shaxx for another one…"

"You have four-hundred," Ghost says. "On top of your abundance of legendary shards."

"Whatever, I'll just use Redrix's…hey, where is that too!?" The Guardian smacks the Vault's computer screen and groans in exasperation. "I swear I'm losing so much stuff right now, it's just disappearing from my Vault!"

"Here, let me check, you have a tendency to be scatter-brained." Ghost disappears.

"Gee, thanks for the vouch, Ghost," she grumbles then pouts.

"It's not there. You probably left it with-"

Two massive arms wrap around The Guardian's waist as she's teetered side-to-side.

"Ela, please…the Crucible match is in twenty minutes and I'm kind of stressed right now!" She exclaims, trying to shrug off her girlfriend's insanely tough grip. "I'm a win away from getting top seed next season and if I don't find my Revoker I won't do good!"

"I was wondering if you might know where you put my One-Eyed Mask," Ela mumbles into her ear, holding her tighter. "I'm not letting you go 'till you tell me."

"You think I know where you put your helmets? Please, it would be better for me if I didn't tell you, if I did know," The Guardian says, gently slapping Ela's forearms to get her to let go.

"So, do you know or not?"

"I don't!"

Ela grumbles and releases her, humming. "I guess I'll just use my Synthoceps for this match…"

A pause.

The Guardian goes through her Vault once more and settles for a Spare Rations hand cannon, Mindbender's Ambition shotgun and One-Thousand Voices for her loadout. She grumbles to herself about big monkeys and stuffing barrels into people's mouths.

/

_Argus, Remnant_

Osiris stands in the backyard of Saphron's house, his hands locked behind his back and his gaze towards the multitude of flowers in the garden. A colorful butterfly flaps its wings and takes refuge on a leaf, resting for a moment before it's chased away by a pigeon that seems to be passing by.

Sagira appears at his shoulder and scans the flowers. "Gardens really do have a bad connotation, with the Black Garden and all. I feel like a Vex is going to just climb out of the ground."

"You aren't wrong, it's unusual to see beauty without danger," Osiris says, nodding once. "It's a nice feeling."

"I do agree, it's just nice being able to take a break from fighting, even if it's just a minute-"

"Hey Osiris, we're going to check out the military base at the edge of Argus, you want to come along?" Jaune peeks his head out from the patio door.

Osiris sighs. "You all go ahead, I will be there soon."

"Sounds good, see ya then!"

"Ooh, breaking and entering?" Sagira asks, with a suspicious about of hopefulness in her voice.

"No."

. . .

The walk down the bridge to the base is long and quiet. Osiris can sense the tracking of what feels like every security camera on Remnant. The poles are placed in irregular intervals, sometimes having as many as five stuck in a row to one every meter or so.

The rolling gate is closed, with two orange bars of light mounted vertically on the sides. There is a yellow stripe on the asphalt road. A cyan-blue screen flickers on the side of the gate.

"There doesn't seem to be anyone here," Osiris mumbles as he leans side-to-side in order to find any personnel that could be patrolling. He doesn't see anyone.

Sagira appears and flies over to the screen. "If that's the case, then no one would know-"

"Please turn around and return to Argus! The Atlas border is _closed!_" Two voices of uncanny similarity speak in exact timing.

Sagira screams and almost jumps out of her shell. Osiris is even startled by their very sudden appearance.

"We are aware of that…gentlemen." Osiris looks in somewhat disdain at the two pointy-capped and broad-shouldered Atlas employees that stand stock still side-by-side. "But we were hoping we could speak to a…commanding officer."

"Unless you bear-" The one on the left begins.

"Important news!" The one on the right continues.

"Then you all have to return home!" They both say in unison, before bringing one leg out wide in opposite directions and slamming the sides of their respective boots together.

Osiris has to blink a few times at the show of impressive but eerie coordination between the two bootlickers. He opens his mouth to speak but Nora steps in front.

"Look here you big dumb idiots, we're carrying a super important cargo that Ironwood-"

"General Ironwood!" They both exclaim at once.

"General Ironwood would want to see! Now let us through before I break down this STUPID GATE!" Nora raises her fist and shakes it at them.

The two soldiers take a step back.

"Please, return to Argus!"

"Oh, that's it!" Nora draws her two-handed war-hammer and prepares to charge at the closed gate.

"Nora…" Ren puts a hand on her shoulder.

"We won't leave until you let us through!" The orange-haired girl yells as she's dragged away, her heels grinding into the ground.

"What's the meaning of all this!?" A posh, snotty voice demands. Osiris has to look down to regard the woman. She wears a white, officer's uniform with a thick belt at her stomach and small decorations on the top left side of her chest, just under the collar.

"_**Her name is Caroline Cordovin…you'll want to refer her as Special Operative,**_" Sagira informs.

"Yes…special operative-"

"Miss is fine," Cordovin says.

"Miss Cordovin, we're part of a group that is looking to enter Atlas and speak with the general," Osiris begins, crossing his arms and making the Monte Carlo disappear from his back. "The second half of our fireteam are…delayed, but they are carrying a relic of great-"

"The general's orders were clear, there is no one to be entering the _great kingdom of Atlas!_" She sticks a finger in the air and then puts her arms at sides of her hips. "Despite what you all seem to think, _Atlas_ does not accept just anyone-"

"So there's still a chance?" Sagira asks, tilting her shell and furrowing her single eye.

"That's not what I was saying! With all the ruckus you Argus ingrates have caused I was forced to personally come down here and deal with the situation myself!" Cordovin sounds and acts like she's been personally attacked. "You all don't know all the effort Atlas does to protect you all and now everyone wants to destroy us!"

"That wasn't even related-" Sagira tries to speak but she's cut off again.

"No more comments, you will all leave and never come back!" Cordovin takes two steps back, behind the gate and it rolls shut, the extra locking bars slamming in front of them.

Osiris scoffs and turns around, shrugging to his temporary fireteam. Nora still looks rabid and is barely held back by Ren who keeps pulling her away.

"Oh yeah, well your base is just a giant dumb rock!" She yells, all the way from the other side of the bridge. It's a surprise her voice even reaches that far.

"Definitely showed her," Sagira mutters. "Come on, let's go, we'll figure something out, even if it involves breaking into that base."

_The next day…_

Osiris walks the streets of Argus, tracing his finger alongside a brick wall of someone's home. Navigating the border-side city feels like going through the Infinite Forest. Perhaps he stayed a bit too long in Mercury. It probably would have done some good if he took a break once in a while.

Sagira swoops down and floats in front of his face, her eye cheery. He knows that look: She's eager about something. Osiris doesn't like it when she's eager about something.

"What did you do?" He asks, stopping in his tracks and turning to lean his back against a wall. She follows his field of vision.

"So I did a fly-by of the base and I managed to break a hole in Atlas' network," Sagira says, her tone with an unusual upbeat kick to it. "And I connected to a communications tower nearby, which I then used to locate Saint-Fourteen by using it as an ad hoc radar and guess what I found."

"Another Ghost signal? You stream your entire point of view whenever you go anywhere out of my sight," Osiris says, smirking. He shrugs his shoulders. "That's good. Lisbon-Thirteen, if I remember correctly?"

"Yep! And he's a Hunter, too! So now we have a full fireteam to work with!" Sagira says, her shell bounding with apparent joy. "What are we gonna name ourselves? Ooh I know-"

"Would it not be better if the _team_ decided its superficial name?" Osiris raises a brow.

Sagira hums and tilts her body before nodding. "Mm, yeah you're right, let's get home…where are we?"

"By the looks of it, we are near a park." Osiris nods to a walled plot of land across the street. Frozen trees are planted in a neat and consistently dotted manner, supported by concrete pillars and a net. This allows the leaves—looking more like vines—to grow horizontally and create a natural, forest-green roof that blocks the light of whatever celestial body is in the sky. Due to the winter, there is a coat of ice over the growths.

The cool air pricks his nostrils when he breathes. It's a refreshing change from the constant heat that entailed being around Vex machinery without breaks. He turns his head to Sagira, shrugs, and Blinks across the street, into the entrance of the park.

It's darker in here, with shadows covering the ground every other step. They shift ever so slightly as a small breeze blows the trees back-and-forth. It smells of distinct greenery, like the Black Garden. Too pure, too perfect. It sends a small chill down his spine.

The natural blockade above gives way for an empty circle, where a statue depicting a woman holding a Spartan's shield from the top, placing it under her waist stands. Pot lights in the ground surrounding the statue, and there is a plaque in front. There are two benches to the sides of the pathway, thin sleet covering them.

It reads:

_IN HONOR OF PYRRHA NIKOS_

_ONE OF THE MANY STUDENTS WHO FOUGHT VALIANTLY AT THE FALL OF BEACON_

"Sagira, any info on who this 'Pyrrha Nikos' is?" Osiris mumbles, looking down at the plate, then tilting his head up to the statue. It towers over him, the woman's face looking down on him.

Sagira appears and scans the construct, humming to herself. "From what I'm getting…she used to be a student at another kingdom's Huntsman Academy."

"A student defending her school…courageous. Did it fall to Grimm?" Osiris readjusts his scarf, covering more of his nose.

"The entire Kingdom of Vale fell because of the combined efforts of the White Fang and a shady underground group that's related to Salem. Grimm was released inside the borders, thousands died," Sagira says, emphasizing the final part. A light jingle from the Ghost. "Oop! We got a call! It's from Saint!"

"Patch me in," Osiris mumbles, turning around and heading towards the exit of the park. His shoulders bump with someone else's. A woman with antler ears walks past him. "Saint, what is it?" He says.

He feels the woman's gaze linger on him while he distances himself away from her.

"Osiris! We have arrived at Argus, we are at the border! This city looks nice, doesn't it?" Saint's boisterous voice nearly shatters his eardrums. "Osiris, are you there-"

"Yes, I am here, Saint. Are Jaune and his group with you?" Osiris waits at a side-walk. A map of the city with directions on where to go appears in the corner of his vision.

"You mean the blonde boy and his friends? They are. I also brought extra _reinforcements,_ you could say, hehe," Saint says.

"Lisbon-Thirteen? Yes, I am aware," Osiris says. "A Hunter? He rounds out the fireteam."

"Wha-how did you know?"

"Lisbon-Thirteen, reporting in. My Ghost received Sagira's ping a few hours ago," Lisbon-13's voice comes in.

"It's good to have you, Lisbon. Is Rekkana doing well?" Osiris asks. He hasn't spoken to the Cryptochron in quite a while. He wonders if the new Vanguard has dismantled that order yet; it didn't mesh well with the Speaker's egotistical leadership.

"She's…away, right now. We split paths." Lisbon's voice is regretful like he's holding something back.

"I see…I will meet you all at the house."

"…House? When did you get a house?" Saint asks, his tone is very confused.

"It's not mine, Saint."

"I suppose that's true…"

/

The reunion of team RWBY and Jaune, Nora and Ren is a heartfelt and joyful one. Everyone takes turns to give each other hugs while Qrow sulks about somewhere. The old woman is practically ignored, only getting a single mention from Nora, who asked a question that fell on deaf ears.

Saint-14 takes a moment to look around, take in the sights of Argus' walls. There are plenty of people milling about, doing their business. A few armed guards stand, far apart from each other and watching with vigilance for any potential threat.

Saint scans the crowds, searching for Osiris. He doesn't notice anything just yet. The Warlock is probably waiting for him at his supposed house.

"Come on, the group is leaving," Lisbon's Ghost says as he flies away. Saint snaps out of his little trance and follows it.

He isn't led to the rest of the group, instead, it's just Lisbon-13 standing underneath a tree.

"I pulled you out of the crowds for a reason. Ruby can wield the _Light,_" the Hunter says, his eyes glowing a light pink in the darkness. "She's a Guardian when there aren't Guardians here."

"Is it true? Now that you have my memory working…she does look familiar." Saint hums and shoots a glance to Ruby, who's walking away with Jaune. "She has the same incredible speed…if only Tallulah was here, she would be able to name her the moment she saw her."

"I kinda miss Tallulah, but that's beside the point," Lisbon mumbles. "Look, the important thing is: She used to be a Guardian at the Tower."

"Would the Traveler revive someone as young as her?" Saint questions.

"I dunno, it wouldn't be right." Lisbon turns to his Ghost, nodding once. "Try and get me a cross-reference with whatever database you have."

Ghost nods. "You got it." It disappears, then reappears after five seconds. "I have the closest match. These remnants of the Tower's database I downloaded before the Red Legion attacked."

"I…think I know who it is." Lisbon's voice dries. "She taught me how to shoot a sniper rifle."

Lisbon pauses.

"Well?" Saint asks.

A single word rolls out of his metal lips.

"_Summer._"

* * *

**Season 6 honestly doesn't have a lot of stuff to work with so that's why these chapters are a bit short. I hope I'm keeping it interesting, though.**


	18. An Exo in Atlas

**Man, I can see that my writing has improved since the first chapter, but god damn do I make the dumbest mistakes. I probably need a beta-reader if anyone wants to do that.**

**To the people who don't like the direction the story is going: I understand what you're feeling but unfortunately, there won't be much improvement in that. I want to take this beyond a "character x does thing in series y" and I can see why people want that, it's fun to read. I'm writing this because I want to gush about Destiny lore and mix it with RWBY, it started as a piece on what Saint would do in this universe but I guess ambitions got the best of me.**

**Once we get to Season 7 the story will become much more explosive when all the pieces start falling together. Keyword: **_**Falling.**_

**Adding one last thing from the Destiny universe that'll be a little sub-plot for Saint to solve but that'll be it.**

* * *

_The Black Garden, Unknown Space_

Lisbon-13's head recoils back as a spark of Vex Radiolaria jumps out at his face, splatting all over the visor of his helmet. He snarls at the Minotaur core and summons a piece of anti-conduction tape to stick it on the crack. It should hold for the jump…hopefully.

"Ghost, what are you seeing?" He yells, leaning away from the underside of Yardarm's ship to look up at his Ghost staring at the control panel in the cockpit of the ship.

"I think we're…stable? Readings are jumping all around, not sure if it can hold," Ghost says, humming after.

"God, I fucking hate how Yardarm wired this thing, seriously, who uses a red wire for ground!?" Lisbon moans while forcing the panel to the engine shut, giving it a few good smacks for good measure. The magnetic locks are on, which is good, but there is a large bulge at the center of the cover, which might present some problems if those locks fail somehow. "Eh, it'll be fine." He slides out and sits himself up.

The Black Garden's sky is bright, a few shattered stars shining through from behind the mountain next to him. Lisbon hasn't been able to figure out the day-night cycle of this place but he did manage to scope out a few astral bodies that shift in slight manners; sometimes its their spin or their placement.

The constant flow of Radiolaria from the waterfalls trickle into a stream that surrounds him and his ship. He uses it to fill up the dead Vex cores that will power his vehicle, for the eventual flight out of this beautiful, but wretched place.

Lisbon can hear something calling out to him. _Divinity._ The weapon that led him into this entire mess, the weapon that helped corrupt Rekkana and Yardarm, the weapon that the Vex _worshipped._ He shudders at the thought of handling it again.

His Ghost flies into his sightline and they make eye contact.

"Are you okay?" Ghost asks, his tone softening.

"I…" Lisbon sighs. "Yeah, let's just get out of here. I'll confess to the Vanguard when we get home."

"But they'll exile us!" Ghost shakes his head with agitation.

"I know, and maybe it's for the better. What we saw, how I killed them...I'm not a Guardian anymore. I don't know what I am. If someone stumbles into this place…Traveler help them…" Lisbon's voice trails off. "Let's get out of here, it's getting hot."

"I—alright," Ghost says. "I'll prep the systems after another check. Work on getting the moss off of the windshield, okay?"

Lisbon nods and his shoulders slump when his Ghost disappears. He sighs, shakes his head and grabs a handful of green vines that cover the plane's cockpit window. It's thin, frail and crumbles in his hand, he progresses to remove most of it from the clear silica glass. He peeks through, watching Ghost scan the controls of the ship with beams of Light.

In response, it beeps and boops before all the screens light up a bright positive light-green. The cockpit window pops open and slides back. Lisbon climbs in, landing on the pilot's seat with a light _thud_, kicking up dust that makes him sneeze.

He wipes away a layer of powder-like dirt from the main screen in the center of the cockpit controls, wiping his palm on the seat afterward.

There's a single message displayed:

_Reminder: Figure out what to get Rekkana for coming Crimson Days_

_She doesn't want more books, maybe another hand cannon?_

Lisbon's throat dries as he stares at the two sentences in silent defeat. Yardarm must have written that; the Crimson Days were only a few weeks away when they crashed. Rekkana still celebrated the Tower holiday despite being exiled by The Speaker and she still accepted these traditions as they were in spite of her status as a Cryptochron.

Lisbon swipes the message away, deleting it forever. He sits for another minute, before nodding once. "Let's go," he mumbles.

"Okay," Ghost says as the ship lifts from the ground. A loud grinding of metal makes Lisbon wince. "Don't worry, the landing gears are a bit rusty. We're looking good for flight stability. NLS drive is powering on."

"That's good…right?"

"Yeah, it is, we'll be out of here but I will warn you of one thing: I don't know where we'll end up, or if we'll even leave The Black Garden."

"We'll just hope things go our way." Lisbon grips the flight stick. His eyes dart between the flashing lights of the control panel and the space in front of him. "Are we good to go?"

"Whenever you are," Ghost says, disappearing after.

Lisbon takes a deep breath, holds it for a few seconds, before exhaling for a few more. "Alright, here we go." He flicks a few switches and his thumb hovers over a red button on the flight stick. He closes his eyes and taps on it. A loud humming sound comes from behind the ship. The combustion of Radiolaria heats the entire cockpit by a few degrees.

Something beeps and the ship lifts in the air. Lisbon pulls the pilot stick back, steering it upwards before preparing for a Near-Lightspeed Jump. A few seconds of silence later, and Lisbon is overwhelmed by the colors of the universe, flashing in long streaks and tiny dots that speed right past. It's hard to visualize that those are all planets or stars that he's just passing by like the never-ending snow from the Cosmodrome.

"Uh oh," Ghost says. "Slow down, slow down!"

"What is it!?" Lisbon pulls the emergency brakes handle, situated on the left of the pilot seat. The ship comes to a screeching stop and he's thrown head-first into the cockpit window.

. . .

Lisbon's eyes close for a few seconds and when they open, he sees sparks coming from the circuitry underneath the control panel and spurts of Radiolaria jumping out from between the floor panels. He looks forward to see his ship heading straight for a thick, rope-like structure that has the same width as a dozen steel beams stuck together. Both hands wrap around the pilot stick and he pulls it to the left with all the force he can muster.

The vehicle makes a jarring roll and he manages to shift the impact location from center-mass into an entire wing. The ship hooks around the rope and is sent spinning into the air, the effect of gravity making it tilt downwards and putting it into a freefall.

A crash and Lisbon is crushed. His Ghost appears and does quick work, reviving him in less than a second. He appears, stumbling out of the ship.

The _ratatat _of gunfire is all around him. Little mites swarm above him with little jittery movements that go back-and-forth. Lisbon's photoreceptors are still blurry.

Someone cries in agony and tumbles to the floor.

Lisbon falls on all-fours, shaking his head to regain his bearings. His vision clears up and he looks around.

Soldiers in white armor and classic-style gas masks are fending off a giant swarm red mites that swoop in and out of sight, burrowing into spaces between monitors that cover every wall in the giant room.

Lisbon looks at his hands, caked in white concrete and blood. For a moment he thinks it's Rekkana's, but he pulls himself together to concentrate on the situation in front of him. He gasps and coughs out bits of metal before propping up one leg to hold himself.

A grey and white bullpup rifle slides to him. He scoops it up, gives it a quick inspection and slapping on the side. He levels the sights to his eyes and slowly stands up. Everything dulls around him and he snaps his body side-to-side, keeping a vigilant eye for the enemy amidst all this chaos. It all turns into background noise as he hears what sounds like a million pieces of metal scraping together coming from that swarm rushing towards him. It divides into smaller ones to pursue the soldiers in white armor that are trying to run from it.

Lisbon lets out a burst of the energy rifle, making the horde of tiny particles divert as chunks of them are taken out, collapsing and spreading into uncountable pieces on the floor.

"_**We have to go, now!**_" A marker appears on his HUD, leading towards a lozenge door that looks to have been forced open. Lisbon rushes towards it and trips on a dead body being consumed by the swarm. He stumbles a few times but manages to catch himself from falling.

The swarm is converging onto him and he manages to get outside before it reaches him.

Once outside, Lisbon sees that a massacre is occurring. Multiple swarms are killing soldiers by the dozen, taking them into the skies and consuming them to turn them into horrific red-and-black amalgamations of human and machine that would then relentlessly attack their former allies.

Ghost is screaming something in the back of Lisbon's head, but he drowns it out by unloading whatever is left of his scrounged rifle into one of those zombies that try to rush him.

"_**Density is getting critical, I marked a safe point where you can stay before your entire body is taken over by these things!**_"

Another marker, one that leads to a room with a slide-down door operated by a red button inside. Lisbon tucks and rolls, evading a volley of errant gunfire. He slides between two red barrels, turns around and knocks them over, spilling the dark-brownish liquid inside. He throws down an explosive throwing knife into the puddle. It beeps three times before a fireball forms and consumes anything unfortunate enough to be close by.

Lisbon dashes inside the marked and tackles the glowing button inside the safe room, making the entrance slams shut in front of him, leaving him in darkness while a gas sprays down from above. Thousands of mites fall from his body, writhing and attempting to form together with no success.

Lisbon wipes his brow and lets out a breath.

"Ghost, where's the nearest exit? I gotta get out of here," he mumbles, thumbing the hammer of Ancient Gospel.

"_**It's on the other side of this perimeter,**_" Ghost says. "_**Be careful out there, if you die I won't be able to bring you back or else I'll get torn to pieces by those things.**_"

Lisbon nods and steels himself. A shotgun appears on his back, in the same sleek and faded golden color as Ancient Gospel. It's called "Prophet of Doom." He glances at the red button and hits it with the side of his fist. He steps out and turns to the left, to get a view on what he can work with.

The entire area is littered with small roads and various roadblocks that would be useful as cover. On the other side of the compound, there is a gated fence where multiple soldiers have barricaded themselves and are fending off the swarm and its converted minions. He could go through and try to link up with them, but that would mean having to fend off everything aforementioned all by himself.

An alternate path presents itself in the form of an airfield that is relatively empty compared to the cluster of buildings that the other way was. He could go around and procure a vehicle to make getting to the exit a little bit easier.

The battle is still ongoing. What looks like reinforcements are rolling in. A steady stream of those soldiers are coming to join, while tanks and armored vehicles with big machine guns and cannons mounted on top follow in their wake.

One of the monsters tries to tackle Lisbon but he dodges to the left and prepares a trip-mine grenade in one hand. He stabs the sharp end into the zombie's torso before kicking it into a pack of its friends. The explosive disintegrates them all in a small detonation.

Lisbon shrugs and heads for the roads. He clambers over a roadblock and leaves an explosive knife in case anything is following him. His hand raises into the air and he summons a Golden Gun.

He runs and guns with his weapon of Light, burning away anything that dares stand in his path. He saves the last bullet for the swarm, which redirects its attention. It screeches in reaction to the molten bullet that melts a good part of it off and converges on him.

"Ah shit I pissed it off," he screams to himself before continuing to run. It's right behind him and seems to slowly be closing the distance between the two.

A wall of ice blocks it from reaching him, buying precious time to get away. He climbs over a wrecked armored personnel carrier and rolls over to the other side to take cover. He makes eye contact with a fair-skinned woman wearing a white and navy-blue coat pointing a dueling saber at the newly-formed ice wall. She returns his stare with a semi-annoyed one and flicks her head towards the armored car to her left.

Lisbon rushes to the vehicle and reaches his hand out to the back door.

"_**Behind you!**_" Ghost warns. Lisbon snaps behind him and jams his elbow into a soldier's stomach before throwing an Arc-charged fist at their head, forcing them into the ground. A crack of electricity and a sky-blue staff materializes in one hand. He stands still and scans the new threat.

A dozen of those troops are surrounding him with their weapons raised. A yellow streak passes by above, heading straight for the battle behind him.

"Hey, all of you, put your guns down and you'll all make it out of here alive!" Lisbon says, focusing on the soldier closest to him and taking a step back.

"Unknown assailant, we are _kindly_ requesting you to stand down or else we will be forced to shoot!" One of them says.

Lisbon snarls and twirls his body, evading all their bullets before swinging his staff, striking a troop and disabling them, quite possibly for life. He spins his weapon, reflecting gunfire before kicking the shooter into another and throwing an Arcbolt grenade, electrocuting them both. He jumps up and readies to smash back down.

"_Stay_!" Someone yells and he's frozen. He falls to the floor, stilled while his unleashed charge of Light dissipates, leaving him in his regular form. He tries to fight this newfound stillness and manages to get a kick in before a brace is locked around his neck and handcuffs are snapped onto his wrists and legs.

"Let me go you fu-" Something smashes into his head.

Lisbon's systems fizz out and everything goes black.

. . .

A bright, cold light forces his sensors to reactivate. He has to blink a few times to get used to it.

Lisbon sits himself up and he feels a sort of tether linking the entire backside of his body and his arms to the roof. He looks up to see multiple tubes attached to him that plus into a glowing grid in the ceiling. He stands without many issues, as the tubes are quite flexible. He looks around, only faced with an empty room.

The ground changes form underneath him. A fallen tree stump reaching up to his chest appears.

"Please climb over the obstacle in front of you in any way you can," a kind-sounding, old voice says from a speaker in the corner of the room. "Do take your time, I understand if you are still disoriented."

"Where the fuck am I? What the hell is this?" Lisbon gestures to the stump and scans the room for any cameras. He makes out a small lens between the padding of the walls.

"I know this may seem daunting for you, as you probably think you've been kidnapped but I can assure you that it's not the case. You are safe here," the voice says. "We are just assessing your physical capabilities."

Lisbon rolls his eyes and scoffs.

"_**Ghost, you there?**_" He asks.

"_**Yeah, I'm here. Do what he says, I think we're in custody of a government right now.**_"

Lisbon sighs and hops over the tree stump, sliding the side of his legs on the top and landing on the other side without flaws.

"Good, good!" The voice says. "You seem to be doing well, after your…erm, rough introduction with the troops. I tried to get Ironwood to relent on his treatment of unknown personalities such as yourself…"

"I get it, you're on my side," Lisbon says under his breath. The floor under him raises and he's presented with an obstacle course involving jumping onto small platforms about the same size as his two feet. "I didn't ask to be tested on my acrobatics, though."

He takes a breath and hops from one to the other without so much as a pause. He feels the draft of an incoming projectile headed for the back of his head and flips backward to get over it and lands back on his platform. The swinging log disappears, fizzling into pixels.

"Marvelous, marvelous! I have to meet you in person!" The voice says, a great deal of excitement in his tone. There are the sounds of shuffling and a light whirring from the speaker, before a door on the opposite side of the room slides open. A dark man on a quadrupedal chair strides in, a smile beaming on his face. His little glasses hang off the bridge of his wide nose and seem to house perceptive eyes, Lisbon knows it, he's seen that kind of look from excited and curious Warlocks.

He shakes his head of the thought and jumps down from the platform, landing in front of the man. The tubes on his body stretch but remain flexible.

"So…you're in charge of this whole place?" Lisbon asks.

"Yes, yes." The man nods. "You can call me Pietro, I work as a lead researcher in the Kingdom of Atlas' Research and Development division. I do all kinds of things, robotics, prosthetics, weaponry-"

Lisbon raises his hand and swipes his palm. "Where did you guys put my guns?"

"Oh, are you planning to leave? I was hoping you would be able to assist me with a project of mine, it's quite personal you see…" Pietro's joyous expression falters a bit. "It would mean quite a bit to me and you would be providing crucial data to improving Atlas' robotics program."

"I-" Lisbon sighs. He thinks about the proposition for a moment. "Let's see what this comprises of, and what I get from it, then maybe we can work from there. You can call me Lisbon."

"_**What am I getting myself into?**_"

"_**Never knew that old people have an effect on you,**_" Ghost remarks.

. . .

_A few days later, somewhere on Atlas._

Lisbon settles down on the side of a bed in his new prison cell—which looks more like an apartment room. Opposite of him is a short, wooden table where one leg is shorter than the other three with a few amenities placed on top such as a coffee machine and some packets of air-sealed food. He looks up and in the center of the ceiling is a single fisheye camera. On the wall to his right is a window with several metal bars that lets some sunlight in.

"Prisoner A-fifteen is requested to Room One." The reinforced door to his cell clicks and a light above it changes from red to green.

Lisbon stands up, stretches his arms and pushes the door outward.

A soldier in bulking armor stands in front of him, carrying a large machine gun that glows pink and purple.

"_**Is that a Nova Mortis?**_" Lisbon wonders.

"_**I…think so, how did they get their hands on that?**_" Ghost says.

"Come on, let's go." The guard flicks his weapon to the right.

The man trails him as he walks down the hallways of this prison. A few guards pass by them and their stares are pretty obvious. He is led into an elevator.

The guard presses the highest button, and they start ascending.

The two stand in wary silence. Lisbon conjures up plans to escape this place, break out and figure out wherever the hell this is. His photoreceptors gravitate towards the panel of buttons.

"Don't even think about it," the guard says, his Slavic accent thick and the words sharp.

"Don't know what you're talking about," Lisbon says in return, bringing his hands behind his back.

The elevator dings and he's shoved out and escorted in front of two wide doors.

"Polish your shoes and stand straight, you're about the meet the general," the guard says, more as a warning than as simple information. A moment later he presses a button that buzzes once that makes an intercom buzz.

The doors unlock and the guard slowly pushes it open, as if he were scared of what's on the other side. The office that presents itself in front of Lisbon is big, with a giant empty area before four steps in which a brown desk sits at the center of the slightly elevated floor.

A man with a black short beard and a white tailcoat stands in front of the desk with his arms crossed behind his back. A white-haired woman stands to the right of him, scanning him with a slight squint and the tenseness of suspicion.

"You can leave us," the man says, directed towards the guard, who nods and marches his way out of the office with distinct heavy footsteps. "And you, young man should take your hood off."

"Who're you calling young?" Lisbon mutters to himself. "I'm keeping the hood. You can see me just fine."

The general smirks. "Perceptive." The woman next to him scowls. "You aren't fond of authority."

"Wonder what made you think that?" Lisbon snaps. "Anyways, why'd you bring me here, to this…office."

"That was what I was going to discuss, you may refer to me as General Ironwood," the man says. He keeps his torso forward as he walks behind his desk, taking a seat and clasping his hands together, placing them in front of him. "You do understand the disruption you've caused when your ship crashed into our black site?"

"I don't recall being told anything." Lisbon crosses his arms. Ironwood chuckles.

"Although the contents of the project are classified, you've managed to put our scientists further back than where they've started at," Ironwood says with a grave inflection. "My subordinates are calling for you to be tried and put in the worst prison Mantle has to offer."

"Okay, and?"

Ironwood raises an eyebrow while the woman looks at him like he's insane.

"This doesn't worry you at all?" He asks.

Lisbon shrugs. "Tiny bit, but I think I can get myself out of that. Cut to the point, you want to slice me a deal, right? Say it."

The woman tenses and her hand over for her weapon.

"Conciseness, I appreciate it," Ironwood muses. "I am offering you a chance to escape from being put in prison to rot until the end of your days."

"By doing what?" Lisbon asks.

"All you have to do is enroll into Atlas Academy and continue working with Pietro after the two months he's requested from you and I will personally pardon you from all charges." Ironwood stands and leans forward, as if expecting a positive answer. "The list is quite long."

"I appreciate the offer but I will have to decline," Lisbon says, backing away one step. "I understand you're trying to be gracious but I said I would stay here for two months only, and that is what I am going to do."

"I don't think you understand. The second that day comes, you will be arrested on the spot by the first guard that sees you," the woman says. "I would do it myself if I were able to."

"Love the enthusiasm, but I'd rather be back in my room and being told to do a bunch of training exercises I could pass with my eyes closed." Lisbon turns, and glances behind himself. "Anything else?"

Ironwood sighs. "No, your guard will be waiting outside. If you wish to rescind on your decision, I will be here."

/

Lisbon leans on a balcony, looking at the boot island in the distance. His throat dries at what lays ahead. How would Saint react when he figures out the lie? It's no longer a matter of "if." It's inevitable.

Lisbon feels a bit bad for Pietro, he knew the old man had ambitions with his research and yet he still left.

He wonders how she's doing and if she's hurt by his actions.

He sighs, and leans forward on the railing. He takes a breath, filling his mechanical lungs with air. His mind drifts into pointless daydreams.

* * *

**To that one reviewer who wanted me to write that Saint, Osiris and Lisbon would try to convince RWBY that Ironwood made the right decision: I'm gonna be frank with you right now, that's _not_ gonna happen, nor will it ever happen in characters like these.**


	19. An Exo in Atlas II

**Sorry for the recent delays. Trials is back and I was grinding power levels for a week one completion. I managed to get a flawless in, so I guess it was worth it. I also got flawless twice this second week (though the second one was with streamers cause my regular team wasn't on)**

**Also, Saint's lines in that game mode are amazing, I'll probably try and work some of them into this story, in future chapters.**

* * *

_A few weeks later…_

Lisbon still doesn't know where he is. He tasked his Ghost with trying to find out but all that he got in return was uninterpretable data and complaints about the types of operating systems that this place uses. A few common words came back, though: _Grimm, Remnant, Atlas, Beacon. _

His cell's lights are shining extra warmly today, which is odd. He wonders if someone is controlling them right now. The camera is also following him pretty closely, too.

A few heavy footsteps come from the reinforced door. His guard must be here, is it dinner time already? Lisbon checks the digital clock that appeared when he returned from lunch. It's a handful of hours too early.

He is fed quite well here, better than Tower rations. The room is well-heated and the lights never flicker, which is a stark contrast from the City's apartments. The food's better than that bar in the Tangled Shore, too; Spider's Palace, if he is remembering correctly.

He stands, putting one hand behind his back. His guard has gotten used to his antics and has relented quite a bit since the first time he's pulled this trick. He wonders when he'll actually have something in his hand.

Maybe when he breaks out of this place. It's getting too cozy, he doesn't like it.

Sometimes he hears other prisoners being escorted to-and-fro the hallways. They're always screaming about something, whether it be about them not doing anything or if the guards knew who their close relative was. Lisbon thinks that he may have landed in some sort of luxury prison for people who have never gone to prison before. Probably explains the extensive and expensive-looking amenities that get restocked on a periodic basis.

Sometimes, in the quiet hours of the night, Lisbon's mind drifts to Rekkana and what happened in the Black Garden. He tries to suppress the feeling it gives him every time, not allowing himself to break down like this.

He never liked Rekkana in the first place, her and Yardarm had what was coming to them, they were never his friends.

It was all an accident, he didn't mean to do it, they just lined up like that and he panicked.

He tries to rationalize the events to no end and it always brings him back to the same conclusion.

To try and keep himself from spiraling into insanity, he thinks about home. The Last City, the bustling wilderness of the EDZ, the fluffy snow of the Cosmodrome, the harsh reddish sand of Mars. When that doesn't work, he tries to talk to the camera, hoping that someone's watching him and by consequence, listening. Every now and then the desire for food would suddenly appear in his stomach and he wouldn't shut up about wanting some. Whenever a guard would tell him to shut up, it would provide some sort of immense relief to him. Someone's listening, he isn't talking to nothing, there's someone to suffer with him.

The worst punishment of this cell is the silence.

At least Pietro is friendly enough to talk to, when Lisbon is out doing whatever inane test that's been put in front of him. The old man is quite talkative and loves to chat about some sort of project he's been working on in the past few months. Something about recovering from an accident during something called the "Vytal Festival." Lisbon doesn't understand what he rambles on about, but it provides a good enough distraction from the Black Garden.

Lisbon snaps back to reality. His cell door opens, and in steps in an orange haired girl wearing an army green skirt and white blouse. Her eyes shine green and she smiles with an uncanny happiness. Something's up.

"Exo," Lisbon mumbles to himself, meeting her overbearingly cheerful gaze.

"Salutations!" She puts one gloved hand up and waves once, her lips curving into a grin. "My name is Penny, what is yours?"

Lisbon is caught with his mouth half-open. "Uh-"

"No need to be shy! I am here to assist you in acclimating into Atlas Academy!" She says, crossing her arms behind her back.

"Sorry—what now? Acclimating into what?"

"When I am not protecting Mantle, it is my duty to introduce any late enrollments to catch them up on what they've-"

"I didn't sign up for anything." Lisbon puts his right foot back and the mechanics on his forehead take a more angled look to them.

"Now there is no need for aggression, perhaps there was a miscommunication!" Penny says, with that same joyfulness that's starting to grate on Lisbon. "Allow me to confirm with my superiors!" She side-steps out and in comes his regular guard.

"Oh, it's you again," Lisbon says, sitting on the side of his bed. "How have you been?"

The burly guard grunts and shrugs his shoulders.

"Pretty good? Your wife in…what's that placed called again?" Lisbon tilts his head towards him, waiting for an answer.

"Mantle," the guard grumbles.

"Yeah, Mantle. Anyways, how's she doing?" Lisbon asks, faking a smile.

"Okay. She had to evac because of some new mysterious plague that scrambles electronics and eats people alive," the guard says, rolling his armored shoulders. His Nova Mortis makes little clicks and scraping sounds as it rubs against his chest piece. "I'm being transferred to that area. Purification squad."

"Aw, so you won't be my guard anymore? I was getting warmed up to you," Lisbon forces a sad inflection and slackens his shoulders to emphasize.

"Unfortunately so."

"I apologize for the interruption but there has been a miscommunication!" Penny buts in, making Lisbon spring off of his bed. "It appears that I am to acquaint with you, Lisbon!'

"…What?" Lisbon blurts. "Uh, like…get to know each other?"

"Yes! We will be working together in a series of operations within the Red Lands. The General has requested that you make an effort to understand the type of effort Atlas puts for the people in Mantle and that it would convince you to enroll with us!" Penny flashes a wide smile, her green eyes glowing once.

Lisbon is caught with his mouth hanging open. "Uh…so we'll be…teammates? In the…Red Lands?"

"For the rest of your stay here in Atlas!"

"_**Wow she is positive,**_" Ghost mumbles. "_**Am I like this all the time?**_"

"That's…great?" Lisbon utters out, still confused about the proposition.

"Wonderful! Our first deployment begins in three hours!"

"So, I really didn't have a choice in this?"

"General Ironwood requested that I _insist,_ but as it stands, you have been nothing but cooperative!"

"Is Pietro aware of this?"

"Of course, he will be providing tactical support about the situation on the ground!"

. . .

Penny leads Lisbon to an armory with walls upon walls of weaponry that vary in size, length and type.

"You are free to choose any of Atlas' wide range of ballistic and energy weaponry, the Dust containers are behind the glass over there." She points to a sectioned off area of the armory guarded by two soldiers. "Don't worry about the guards, they will let you through."

She turns and almost jets off with those rocket heels of hers. "Oh! I almost forgot to hand you back the weapons we've recovered and suspect belong to you!"

A wide shadow appears above Lisbon. He looks up to see a massive pile of guns floating above him, held up by a green field. He Blinks to the side as it drops to the floor, creating the equivalent of a dust storm in the Manhattan Nuclear Zone. Except much less radioactive and much less infested by mutated Fallen. His photoreceptors zoom in, his machined pupils spinning and picking out the weapons that are and aren't his.

He recognizes a few tags that belong to some very recognizable Crucible champions including Josef and…Randy. The latter might not have been so much of a champion. He was well-known though.

Lisbon sends a ping to Penny, highlighting which weapons were actually his.

"Understood!" The pile lifts up and leaves behind two things: A shotgun and a hand cannon. Prophet of Doom and Ancient Gospel. "I have a question, Lisbon! How were you able to ping me like that?"

"Computer magic," Lisbon says dryly.

"Is that sarcasm?" She asks.

"Yes, that was sarcasm."

"Thank you for updating my databases!"

"Glad I could help."

"_**You don't have to be so mean to her, Lisbon. She's only been nice to you,**_" Ghost says.

"_**Just half an hour ago you were complaining about her positivity.**_" Lisbon rolls his eyes and dusts off his shotgun, shouldering it and mag-locking it to his back. "_**And how am I being mean?**_"

"_**I wasn't complaining, I was just pointing it out!**_" Ghost argues.

"_**Sure, let's go with that.**_"

Lisbon loads a fresh cylinder into Ancient Gospel and fixes it to his waist

"How did you do that?" Penny asks, tilting her head sideways. "You summoned ammunition from nothing?"

"Computer magic," Lisbon says again.

"You are quite the sarcastic figure, Lisbon!" Penny remarks.

"Sardonic, sometimes."

. . .

_Mantle, the Red Lands_

Lisbon's boots clack against the concrete floor as he steps out from the V-TOL ship Penny practically threw him inside when they were at the landing pad. She lands beside him, her hands at her hips. He glances at her, then to the area before him.

A venous, bright red, tree-like growth comes from the ground, pulsating as if something was alive inside. It branches out into many smaller veins that attach themselves to buildings, signs and the metal corpses of Atlas' robot soldiers. A cloud of red swirling mites form on top of Penny's head and she swats them away, only for them to migrate to Lisbon. He looks up and stares at the tiny robots swarming around him, trying to find ingress between cracks of his faceplates or his frame.

"Huh…" Lisbon mutters, trying to dispel them with his hands. They don't leave him and instead change to a pinkish hue. "Guess they're stuck with me."

The sound of a radio crackles in his ear. "Juno-One this is Command, do you copy?" A woman's voice patches in.

"This isn't Pietro," Lisbon mumbles.

"Duly noted, Juno-One. Pietro will be with you and Juno-Two shortly. For now, you two are under my command. You may address me as Field-Commander Schnee, or simply, Command."

Lisbon stretches his arms and steps forward, closer to a tent that looks hastily setup and has a few bullet holes in the fabric walls.

"Make your way into Forward Base. I will brief you in on the situation."

"_**SIVA…**_" Ghost mutters. "_**They have a SIVA outbreak here. These people don't know what's coming.**_"

"Are there evacuation orders…Command?" Lisbon pushes his way into the tent, squinting at the woman in white hair standing with her arms behind her back, staring intently at him. She's the same woman that stood beside Ironwood when he tried convincing Lisbon to join Atlas Academy.

"The entire district is being evacuated as we speak," Schnee says. "With mandatory sanitation before relocation."

"_**Ask her about the sanitation.**_"

"Sanitation, what does it comprise of?"

"You didn't strike me as the one to be interested in details." A slight smirk forms on her face. "Sterilization with the use of ionizing and non-ionizing radiation. The techs will know more."

"Bacteria only? That isn't enough."

"I am being told that it is quite enough to eliminate any traces of the…infection and frankly, I would believe them more than you." Schnee steps her way to the opposite side of the table. "We have several hotspots that are optimal for sample collection. You and Penny are the best resources we have for this. Every unit we have sent into these areas have either stopped responding or returned in severely reduced numbers." A holographic map appears, displaying the layout of this district of Mantle. There are several red and yellow spots that indicate regions that are heavily affected by SIVA, though it isn't labelled that, but "REPLI-1."

"Do we know the origins of this outbreak?" Lisbon asks. "Other than me crashing into the black site?"

"That is classified information."

Ghost appears and squints at Schnee with his single blue eye. She recoils back and draws a dueling saber, pointing it at the construct. "What is that!? Has it been recording us this entire time!?"

"Calm down, he's my little buddy." Lisbon smiles at the grey-shelled prism, who looks cheerily back at him. "He knows more about this than I do."

Schnee squints, then lowers her weapon very slightly, so it isn't pointed at Ghost anymore, but Lisbon instead. "Go on."

"I will put it to you frankly, miss Schnee. Your troops are not doing enough only evacuating this district. I've scanned the plans and the entire region needs to be evacuated, to Atlas if possible. We need an organized task force of at least a thousand trained soldiers in that complex _now_, to destroy it before it can spread even further than it currently has." Ghost glances upwards, in the general direction of that red vine. "We're running out of time, and if we don't do anything Mantle will be taken over. Do you know the nature of this? I can brief Ironwood if he wants to."

Schnee takes a moment to think and gently shakes her head. "We will follow standard procedure and wait for further instructions from the general."

"What I'm trying to say is that standard procedure isn't enough, miss Schnee," Ghost says, shaking his side-to-side. "There is no cure-"

An air raid siren goes off and the outside light takes a redder hue to it.

"We have hostiles incoming," Schnee says. She glances down to a tablet on the table. "It is originating from Ground Zero."

"Do we have a profile on these hostiles?" Ghost asks, floating over to her. She takes a step away from him.

"For all we know they could be anything. This is a first." She walks past Lisbon and outside of the tent. He follows. "There is a broadcast coming through on all frequencies."

A feed appears on the top-right corner of Lisbon's HUD. His entire field of vision starts having interference, as if every single frame of video coming from his photoreceptors were desynced, creating intense clipping in his sight every time he tries to look somewhere. A single symbol faintly takes place in the foreground that ~**CONSUME ENHANCE REPLICATE~ **forces him to run. To what direction, he doesn't know, but it's as far away as possible.

"Juno-One, where are you going!?" Schnee's voice manages to break through.

~**CONSUME ENHANCE REPLICATE~**

"I'm being taken over by these damn mites, give me a moment!" He yells batting his arms wildly in the airs. "Get everyone out of here!"

"Allow me!" Penny says. She flies above him, begins spinning mid-air and a light-blue glow starts enveloping her. A second later, she releases a pulse of energy and everything is silent. The siren turns off, the lights disappear, plunging the entire area in the darkness underneath Atlas' shadow. "All done! All squadrons, regroup and fall back to Forward Base Beta! Lisbon, come on, we're getting out of here!" She flies away, leaving behind a bright green streak that stays alight.

"Lisbon? Penny?" Pietro's familiar voice comes on the radio. "I read the electromagnetic pulse, is everything alright?"

"We're fine…ish. Penny's ordered a retreat and we're moving closer-"

The scuffling of light feet.

"…_**Did you hear that?**_" Lisbon asks. He looks to his left, to the source of the sound. A few sporadic clusters of red dance in the darkness. They vibrate violently, without any clear direction. The shadow above conceals their true details. "_**…Fallen. Not even, they're just…SIVA clusters that are using Fallen bodies as a vessel!**_"

The ground shakes.

"Lisbon?" Pietro asks. "I am hearing something coming. Is it Grimm?"

"_**Even worse…**_"

The lights come back on. Lisbon is alone. There are dead bodies with swarms of SIVA mites all around him. Devil Splicers circle him. Except they're not Devil Splicers…but used to be. Their bodies walk around dead, only carried by a computerized force who's only directive is

~**CONSUME ENHANCE REPLICATE~**

~**CONSUME ENHANCE REPLICATE~**

~**CONSUME ENHANCE REPLICATE~**

The three directives repeat over and over in Lisbon's head.

"_**We have to go, now!**_" Ghost screams.

"Right ahead of you!" Lisbon rolls and activates his Shade Step, turning invisible. He sprints between Splicer dregs, who don't react to his presence. He turns into an alleyway, making sure to look behind him in case anyone's following.

Something stabs into the ground multiple times, creating the effect of a multi-legged being walking. Lisbon holds his breath and sinks into a wall, holding his body parallel to a set of pipes that run along the walls of the buildings he's surrounded by.

"…_**Aksis. Except it's not Aksis…it's entirely taken over by SIVA and…don't you think it walks like a Vex?**_" Ghost asks. Lisbon looks down the alleyway to see a six-legged Archon Prime scurry past in a robotic, procedural walk. It doesn't notice him as it passes.

A hand covers Lisbon's mouth and a voice quickly shushes once.

"We're going to get you out of here, follow us and don't make a sound," the woman's voice says, from his right.

"Who are-"

"Robyn Hill, we'll get to know each other more later."

/

_Argus, present day_

Saint-14 stands in front of Osiris' new house. It looks cozy from the outside, with a small set of steps that lead into a wooden door that looks quite small for his size, surrounded by snow-covered bushes that are surprisingly still alive in this cold weather.

He can't tell if those are bushes or something a bit more intricate. He looks up, marveling at the sheer height of the abode; the houses in the Last City are at max half the size of this!

"Such prosperity…this is what I wanted for our City," Saint mumbles, looking over to Osiris, who snorts.

"Everyone wanted a better future, following The Collapse. We've all had to trade luxuries for safety. The Guardian is doing good work, back on Earth," Osiris says, crossing his arms. "We won't stay for long. Atlas waits, no? After that, we can work on returning home."

"Atlas waits…" Saint mumbles, shaking his head.

"Saint, Osiris, there's food, are you guys just going to stay outside!?" Ruby opens the front door and quickly closes it again. Saint shrugs.

"Come, Saint. They have a nice garden in the back." Osiris walks up the steps and opens the door. Saint follows closely and bumps his helmet on the top of the doorframe. He winces as he backs up and tightens his lips as his photoreceptors set on the new dent.

"Uh oh," Saint says.

Osiris sighs. "I'll tell her after, make sure to duck every time you get close to a door, hm?"

"I will keep that in mind, friend."

Saint bends his knees and walks inside the house. A wave of warmth washes over him once he crosses the line from concrete to the dark-brown wood floor.

"And this must be Saint-Fourteen!" A blonde-haired woman wearing in a beige vest says from a couch, further inside. "Don't worry about the floor, it can support three times your weight!"

"Osiris, did you tell them I was…heavy?" Saint looks to his Warlock friend, who sighs.

"No, Saint. I would never."

"He'll have to watch the carpet, though," a brown-haired woman wearing glasses sitting to the right on the couch. She gets elbowed on the side of her abdomen.

"The one on left is Saphron, the other is Terracotta," Osiris mumbles.

"Good to meet you both, Saphron and Terracotta!" Saint says, with his usual rambunctiousness. "You two seem to have carved quite a nice spot here in Argus!"

"Thank you, we've been living here for quite a while now!" Saphron says, smiling brightly while holding her baby on her lap.

"Ah, so you two are together? That is amazing! Back at Tower we could never find time for such things!"

Osiris chuckles. "They were all too busy fighting for their lives."

"Yes, what a wonderful city! Maybe here, my skull can rest for a moment!"

Terracotta raises an eyebrow.

Blake gives her input. "His fighting style revolves around using his head as a weapon."

"Thank you, that's what I meant." Saint pauses, and looks around. "Where is Lisbon? I haven't seen him around?"

"You mean the guy in the cloak, he's upstairs," Saphron says.

"Ah, he is probably brooding, which is what most Hunters do, he will return when he feels like it."

"Now that's a stereotype if I've seen one," Sagira says, rolling her eye. "There's some sandwiches left, Saint, get something to eat."

Saint's photoreceptors flicker to the sandwiches on the coffee table. He hums in excitement and grabs one fast as his arm can move while with the other, pops off his helmet. He pushes the food in his mouth and a second later, it's gone.

The reactions are varied.

"You eat?" Yang asks, holding her last bite of sandwich in one hand close to her slightly open mouth.

"Whoa…could Penny do that?" Ruby says, her expression a mix of disbelief and awestruck. "Are you two related?"

Saint rolls his shoulders and wipes the crumbs from around his metal lips and pops his helm back on. "My creators, whoever they are, designed me and Exos like me to be the most like a regular person. Don't be shocked if I do something odd for a…mechanical man."

Something vibrates. Terracotta groans and looks at her Scroll. "Ah, damn it. I'm sorry but I'll be right back."

. . .

The sun is setting. Team RWBY and friends have gone out to go to the military base and have surprisingly asked him to stay behind. Blake reasoned that he would "punch out everyone on sight as soon as things when slightly negatively."

He doesn't think so, but everyone else agreed with the statement, save for the two other Guardians. Saint doesn't really mind, it gives him time to reflect on the past month or so; how far he has gotten since first entering the Infinite Forest, what his purpose is in this new world and just how much the Vex have infected this place. He wonders what the Undying Mind is doing in Atlas, all the way in the air. All of its potential minions have turned up dead.

Is the Mind disabled in some way? How long has it been here? Is it biding its time for the opportune moment to strike? What is it even doing in a place like this?

Saint waits in the backyard of Saphron and Terracotta's home. He sits on the edge of the wooden porch, his feet planted into the grass while he stares at a bundle of flowers on the opposite side of him, close to the wooden fence that's about as tall as him. He can't make out much of the details of the plants due to the sun's unfortunate angle and the small spotlight installed on the top of the porch door doesn't cover much.

The door slides open behind him, gently thwacking against a brick wall. Saint looks behind him, to see Osiris with his hood up and Sagira shining a flashlight using her eye. The Warlock closes the door behind him.

"It was a somewhat smart idea to have you stay behind. I'm certain that you would have gotten angry at two particular soldiers," Osiris says, taking a seat beside Saint. "Ruby is briefing the others on the current situation."

"By the Traveler those two…_mimics_ piss me off so much!" Sagira grumbles. "I swear they just suck up to that Cordovin woman at every step!"

Saint chuckles once. "Where's Lisbon?"

Osiris shrugs. "I haven't seen him." There is a small pause. "He told me that Ruby Rose might be related to another Guardian."

"Summer Rose, correct?" Saint asks. Osiris nods. "I haven't known her very closely. If only Tallulah was with us, she would have known."

"Shame, from what I recall, she was a lot like you, but a bit more…trigger happy and joyful," Osiris says.

"I wonder if her Ghost is here. Maybe we could find it. Find her. We'll destroy all the evils lurking here." Saint huffs.

"Maybe, old friend. Maybe."

Someone begins yelling inside the house. A thump.

"I'll check it out," Saint says. He stands up and watches from the closed door.

"He's in your head, isn't he?" Jaune has his back turned to Saint and is talking to Oscar, who's backing away to a wall. "Did you already know about this?" The taller boy begins walking over to the farm hand.

Saint slides the door open, stepping inside.

Jaune grabs Oscar by the straps and shoves him against the wall, creating a low thud. "How much longer can we even trust him!?"

Saint charges a little ball of Arc in his hand. "Jaune, get away from Oscar."

"How do we even know if it's really him!? What if we have been talking to that liar this whole time!"

The Titan lets it loose and shocks Jaune. The blonde boy seizes and lets Oscar go. He snarls and snaps his head to Saint.

"Do you have anything better to contribute, instead of just sitting outside and talking with friends, like this was all just some reunion!?" Jaune yells, gritting his teeth and his eyes full of a desperate, angry glare.

"Jaune, I know you're upset at what you've just learned, but I know one thing that is incorrect. _Salem_ _is killable,_" Saint says, as calmly as he can muster. "I know this sounds crazy but we have to figure a plan out. This fight isn't for nothing, we will come out victorious in the end."

Jaune tenses, shuts his eyes, then sighs. "Yeah, whatever." He glances back to Oscar, then shakes his head. He turns to the staircase and makes his way up, his shoulders slumped.

Saint lets out a breath too. "Give yourselves time to think, it would benefit you all. Ruby, I want to talk to you in private."

* * *

**Most of my crazy ideas are reserved for Season 7, which is where the big changes to the RWBY canon are coming. **

**Stay safe readers, and if you think you have COVID-19, self-isolate. It probably won't affect you, but think of everyone surrounding you.**


	20. Forging the Light

**Twenty chapters, damn. Also, name change and simplification of summary, nothing too drastic.**

**I'm glad you're enjoying the story if you've read this far. I hope you'll be ready for the wild ride that would be Season 7 because it all **_**blows up**_** there.**

* * *

"Come, come, don't be shy." Saint beckons Ruby to come outside, gesturing his hand around an empty spot on the porch. "Take a seat, you would probably need it."

The girl sits down cross-legged, facing both Osiris and Saint with a confused expression. The two Guardians glance at each other, then back to her.

"I suppose I should speak first," Saint says. "You had a mother, correct?"

"Saint-" Osiris sighs and breathes out into his palm with suppressed laughter.

"I mean, yeah…isn't that how kids get made—a woman goes-" Ruby starts trailing off. "Uh…"

Saint sighs. "Very bad question. I mean, do you remember who your mother was?"

"Um…" Ruby looks up in thought. "Not really…Yang told me she was a really good mom and that she was a really skilled Huntress."

Osiris recomposes himself and speaks up. "Do you know of her origins, like where she was born? Did she speak to you or Yang about any of that?"

She shakes her head. "No, I can't remember the last time I actually _spoke_ to her, dad says she died when I was still really, really small."

Osiris' eyes darken and he looks to Saint, then back to her. He takes a deep breath and exhales. "Ruby…you do know where Saint originates from, right? Does everyone know that he is not from this world?"

"Yeah…Jinn said that he comes from a faraway solar system. That he ordered her species' death," Ruby says, turning her head to Saint. "That's true, right? You don't like Jinn?"

"No, not at all," Saint grumbles, glaring at the Relic on Ruby's waist. "Ahamkara cannot be allowed to-"

"We're getting off track," Osiris says. There is a silent pause. "This might sound quite crazy coming from me of all people, but if our suspicions are correct."

"Your mother is a Guardian," he finishes.

Ruby raises an eyebrow. "Uh…"

"She might not be from this world if it is indeed true. Saint told me that you showcased a fragment of Arc Light when against the Grimm, do you remember that?" The Warlock puts his hands on his lap, revealing one palm and emanating a tiny lightning strike.

"I remember…a staff…" Ruby covers her forehead, pulling back a bit of her dark-red hair. "Before I obliterated them all with my eyes."

"You might be a Guardian, too, Ruby," Saint interjects. "Now, I am no expert in what comes out when a Guardian and a regular person…copulate." He lets the word linger in his mouth. "So, don't expect me to answer any question about the Light being passed from generation to generation."

"I didn't even know it was possible," Osiris mumbles.

"We didn't know anyone that tried, or actually…anyone that survived long enough to provide results," Sagira says. "You're the first one in around two millennia, how do you feel?"

"I feel…um…burdened?"

"Now that wasn't an answer I expected," Sagira says. "But I suppose it's the truth. At least you're honest, Ruby."

"Thanks, Sagira."

"Back on topic," Saint says, crossing his arms and standing up. "Do you remember how you summoned that power? The staff, I mean. Your eyes are an entirely different subject matter."

Ruby takes a moment to think, rubbing her chin and looking upwards. "It just…came to me, when I saw Blake down and about to be grabbed by the Apathy, something just clicked."

"Like something was calling you?" Saint says, gently bobbing his head.

"Yeah, something like that. I felt…together, if that makes sense. Like I was at my best." Ruby bites her lower lip. "I don't know if this is useful but I saw some white…orb, like the one that was floating above the God of Light's pool when Jinn showed us her vision."

"White orb?" Osiris asks, leaning forward. He looks to Saint. "She may have seen The Traveler. You also have to explain what the Ahamkara showed you all to me."

"The what?" Ruby asks.

Osiris spends a moment to think. "Sagira, show her The Traveler." Sagira nods and projects The Traveler in a blue three-dimension hologram that pulsates every once in a while. "Was this it?"

"It looks like it," Ruby says, sounding a bit unsure of herself. "I don't remember that much, but I think that's it."

"This practically confirms it," Osiris says. "You are like us, a Guardian, wielder of the Light."

"You know, I came out here to avoid non-sensical talk," Maria Calavera says from beside them. Saint nearly jumps out of his armor at her sudden appearance. He looks to the porch door, which is still closed, then back to the short woman. "Thank you Sagira, for not notifying them about my presence."

"Where did you come from!? Were you listening all this time?" Saint asks, somewhat bewildered.

"Yelling. I was here before you two came in, with my fruit, enjoying the peace, or used to be enjoying it." Maria gestures to a plate of fruit on a table to the right of her chair. "I was listening the entire time, and let me tell you all, none of what was said makes any sense."

"Of course, it wouldn't," Osiris snaps back. "We don't exactly come from Remnant."

"Leave the poor girl alone, she's probably still confused about her eyes, now you're just steam-rolling her with all this new information!" Maria scoffs. "So let's talk about those silver eyes of hers, to try and clear up one thing first."

Ruby bounces from her original position and stands excitedly in front of Maria.

"Ruby, sit down."

The girl takes a seat on the grass, facing the old woman.

"So, let's start with what you do know. Tell me," Maria says, hunching herself forward and squinting with those visors of hers. A few bright-colored butterflies flutter past her and almost fly into Saint's helm.

Ruby tilts her head to the side. "Uh…silver-eyed people are supposed to be legendary warriors or something. And at the Fall of Beacon, I turned a giant Wyvern to stone."

"You can do that?" Osiris asks rhetorically.

"Well, I did, and it's still stuck on top of Beacon, so…" Ruby trails off. "Anyways, that's…it, I guess."

"Wow, I have never heard of such a thing being done before, we may have a little bomb of Light on our hands!" Saint exclaims. "Can you show it to us? That would be a marvel to behold!"

"Oh, uh…thanks, but really it wasn't…" Ruby's voice goes quiet. "And I can't, uh, show it on command."

"You know, you don't give yourself enough credit," Maria says. Ruby is about to offer another thanks but is shut down as soon as her mouth opens. "That wasn't a compliment. Anyways…"

Maria shifts her position on her chair. "We have…a long way to go."

"I mean, yeah, I don't know much about them, so that's why I'm asking you," Ruby mumbles, slight frustration slipping into her words. She shakes her head and looks to the floor.

"It's good that you're willing to learn," Osiris says. "Knowledge is your best weapon on the battlefield."

"He's right, I had my father to teach me, and even he didn't have all the answers," Maria says. "I only knew him as an old soldier and an excellent teacher."

Saint turns his entire body to face the woman and takes off his helm, putting it to his side.

Maria pauses to think about what she's going to say next. "I never attended one of those fancy academies of yours—like Saint and Osiris here, but I scored higher on the license exam than any other Huntsman or Huntress that day."

"To make things clear, they never took any type of exam, ever," Sagira says, her signature snarky cheer weaved in her pronunciation. Osiris shrugs in agreement. Saint hums positively.

"You must've been proud," Ruby says, smiling.

"Heh, he would have scolded me for showing off." Maria dismissively waves her hand. "He'd never been able to find much information about our abilities. Just legends of warriors whose eyes shone like mirrors, reflecting the Light of the world onto Darkness. He found so little that it made him cautious."

"I wonder if the Guardians in the solar system have anything to do with it…" Osiris mumbles into his scarf.

"How could such powerful bloodlines be so rare? Unless something was actively seeking to destroy them."

/

Lisbon steps down a few stairs, stopping mid-way as he notices Oscar talking to himself in a very agonized tone. "Oscar, you alright there?"

"No!" Oscar replies, groaning into his palms. The poor boy looks angry about something.

"Wow, glad you're upfront about that…say, let's get you outside. This house is stuffy," Lisbon says, walking next to the farmhand and reaching out a hand. "Let's talk. I heard everything that happened earlier."

"Do you even trust me? How do I know if it isn't Ozpin talking right now!?" Oscar shouts, burying his face into his palms.

"You're talking crazy, come on, let's get out of here." The Hunter forcibly grabs the boy by the shoulder and drags him outside. Lisbon shuts the door behind him. "Alright, you're outside. Take a walk. I heard the nights out here are pretty nice. Maybe get you some new clothes, you're not looking too fresh on those farm overalls."

"I-"

"Come on." Lisbon's hand slides down Oscar's arm and grabs his wrist. The Hunter starts moving one direction of the sidewalk. "It'll do you some good, I promise."

"Alright…you can let me go now," Oscar says, his intonation stiff. Lisbon releases his grip and the boy starts rubbing his wrist with his free hand. Lisbon notices a few red marks around that same area and silently reminds himself to grab lighter next time.

The two walk in silence side-by-side for a moment. They pass through the old-town style city, gathering stares from those passing by because they both probably stick out like a sore thumb. The blue, tentacle-like pieces on Lisbon's worn-down armor most likely contributes a lot to that.

"Talk to me, what's wrong with you right now?" Lisbon says nonchalantly, bending his arms and holding his hands on the back of his head. "That confrontation with Jaune sounded pretty heated, everything okay between you two?"

"I don't know…he just blew up on me and I don't even know if I can be mad at him. This whole thing is my fault, I led you all here…" Oscar says, throwing his head down and letting his hair cast a shadow over his face. "Why did Ozpin have to choose me!?"

"Choose you?" Lisbon asks, raising a metal eyebrow. He looks into the bright blue sky, still shining when the sun is setting behind the glimmering sea who's view is being blocked by that huge…boot island. He huffs in annoyance.

"I don't even know where to start…" Oscar mutters. His shoulders slacken. Lisbon gives the boy a good pat on the back. "Hey—ow!"

"Sorry. So…this Ozpin chose you and…?"

"He lives in my head," Oscar says, clutching then shaking his head. "I hate it, everyone thinks I'm him and I don't know if you've noticed, but it's a lot of pressure!"

"Oh, I can tell. For a fourteen-year-old, you've got a lot on your shoulders," Lisbon says, glancing over to the boy to his right, who lags behind half a step. He slows down so they're side-to-side. "And you're right, you're not the bad guy here. You're just a vessel…"

Oscar shakes his head and sighs dejectedly. "Yeah…I figured…" he mumbles.

"Bad choice of word," Lisbon says. He takes a moment to think. "Look, from what I can tell _you're_ not Ozpin, just as Ozpin is not_ you._"

"You just said the same thing twice," Oscar points out.

"Tautology, always gets me. Anyways, from what I can gather he's a separate person, right?" Lisbon waves him off. "Is he like…locked away in your brain or something? I heard some weird stuff down there…"

"That's about right," Oscar says. "After everyone just…piled on him, before we got the farm, he just left."

"Ah, not my forte, I would say."

"Would it be anyone's?"

"Also true. Anyways, all that matters is that you're not responsible for Ozpin's mysterious actions and don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

"_**Clothing shop, for Huntsmen it looks like. To your left,**_" Ghost says. Lisbon screeches to a halt and the heels to his boot develop a mysterious case of burnt rubber.

"Hey, Oscar, you remember I said something about your clothes?" Lisbon asks, his robotic eyes widening and increasing in glow as his body starts vibrating in excitement.

The shop's sign is comprised of a soft light that shines behind a minimalistic and cubically lettered "Mick's Battle Shop."

"You said something about them before we left…hey, are you alright?" Oscar turns and looks at Lisbon with a confused expression. "Uh, Lisbon?"

The Hunter doesn't spare the boy's arm as he grabs it and propels like a rocket jet inside the store.

. . .

The owner didn't pay them much mind as Lisbon practically threw articles of armor, ranging from sleek, stealth designs that could reflect light, to bulking tank-like armor that would give a Cabal Colossus a run (or in their terms, a "backwards advance") for its money onto Oscar, who could narrowly evade the first few barrages but eventually got buried.

"Hmm…Oscar, what do you think about this cape? Doesn't have a hood, so you don't get the 'Thieves' Den' look but it does come with a nice green glow," Lisbon calls out, inspecting the black piece of fabric that has lights lined up on the edges and running it between his metal fingers. "Hmm…maybe a cape won't look good on you."

"What about a Warlock robe?" Ghost inputs. Lisbon hums, rubs his chin and shrugs. "…No? I don't know what you mean by that."

"It could look good, maybe keep it short, not past the knees …" Lisbon says. A light bulb figuratively appears on his head. "He would look good with a Bond, though! Do you still have the one I took from that guy on Nessus?"

"Uh…does it look like a Vex that's been stuck onto an arm-sized ring?" Ghost asks, making it appear in Lisbon's hands.

"Yep, this is it. Hey, Oscar, we're gonna put you straight into the future, no more will you be-"

"Hey…Lisbon?" Oscar says from behind him. "I…uh, picked something out, what do you think?"

Lisbon turns and he's caught gawking at the boy's shockingly good sense of style.

"Damn, not bad, kid. Not bad," he says, scanning Oscar's new olive coat with dark red shoulder pads over a white collared shirt. "Though the bandages clash with the fancy look you have going on here. Maybe some extra plating on those forearms would do some good, you'll get caught easily with those wrist straps."

Lisbon rubs his chin and he hums in affirmation. "I got it! Try…" He dives down a pile of clothes. "This!" He emerges empty-handed and nods to his Ghost, who blasts Oscar's arms with a beam of light, which transforms the straps on his forearms and his orange gloves with dark, skin-tight gauntlets that have an X weave from the shoulder to the elbow.

It fits snugly on Oscar and he stretches his fingers, opening and closing his fist, slowly nodding in agreement as his facial expression transforms from slight astonishment to agreement.

"The orange gloves clashed with the subtle look I think you were going for. Cane goes really well too, so, what do you think?" Lisbon drags Oscar to a mirror and keeps him there for a moment. "What was I thinking, going for a futuristic look? You look great! Although…there are some improvements…to be made."

"Are we done here?" The owner asks, flicking his wrist and sending all the discarded pieces of clothing and armor flying back to their respective spots.

"I think?" Oscar replies, looking to Lisbon. "Are we? I'm fine with this."

"I'm not. We're going at this until you're absolutely _perfect._"

/

"So, how do I laser beam monsters with my eyeballs!"

Saint jumps to his feet as soon as Ruby finishes her sentence. "Ah! Now, this is something I am proficient in-" He flinches at Maria's swift cane being brought down on the girl's head.

"First, you stop thinking like that! Saint, you're not being a good example here!" Maria glares through her visor at the Titan, who returns with the same. "Ruby, I want you to think of all the times you've triggered your powers. What did those moments have in common?"

"I would suspect they were all in distressed moments?" Osiris pipes in. "Light is at its strongest when the user is distressed, when all their thoughts are focused on _one_ thing."

"I didn't ask you, did I?" Maria snaps.

"He's right. Every time I used my eyes, I was scared, and stressed. Is it emotional? Like unlocking a Semblance?" Ruby says, rubbing her head.

"Emotional, but focused, correct? By summoning your power, you wished…" Osiris takes a moment to looks at the Relic on Ruby's waist. "You wanted to use it for one thing. Whether it be obliterating your enemies or protecting…" He lets her finish.

"Protecting my friends," she says.

"Right, it's that desire, that _fuel,_ that charges the Light within you. Make no mistake, you are more like us than you are to everyone else. You are special, Ruby. When you find Ghost, you will unlock your true potential and rise above the rest." Osiris crosses his arms and smiles underneath his scarf. "Even without a connection to the Traveler, you can still make use of it, albeit only in short sparks and in the direst of situations."

"I don't know what you're talking about with this Traveler being, but I do know that her powers originate from the God of Darkness' brother," Maria says. "She mentioned a white orb, earlier. I saw one floating above the God of Light's domain, is that what you were referring to?"

"Precisely. I suspect that The Traveler and the God of Light are the same," Osiris says, humming afterward. "Was there a black pyramid in this God of Darkness' domain?"

"Yes," Saint says, a grave hint in his voice.

"Hmm…I need more time to come up with a conclusion."

"So…where do we start?" Ruby asks, standing up and putting her fists forward. Her face brightens with determination.

"Well, not here. The Light will only work in the presence of Grimm, meaning the only practice you'll get will be a trial by fire." Maria lets a blue and grey-dotted butterfly climb onto her finger. She holds it there. "What you _can_ do is focus on creating a state of mind that you can tap into when you need it. Don't think about your Light as a means of destroying evil, but as a way to _protect_ the people of Remnant."

"But that can't be right," Ruby mumbles, deflating a slight bit.

"Hm?"

"You said the Light only reacts to Grimm, but…I used it during our battle at Haven. It reacted to Cinder."

"This is the point where I disagree the most with Maria," Osiris says, standing up and stepping beside Saint. "The Light can be used for whatever the user pleases. I have had to deal with…less than valorous Risen, before the City."

"Warlords, terrorists, thieves, bandits, vandals, traitors, there were all types of people running amok following The Collapse," Saint takes over, shaking his head. "I may not be the most perfect man, but in the end, the purity of the Light is dependent on the one who harbors it. There have been some…corrupted, by the Darkness."

"What do you mean, corrupted? Can Salem do that to me?" Ruby puts her hands to her chest.

"It's mostly the desire for power that drives them to do violent and disgusting acts. They are all lured with the promise of being stronger than the rest that they descend into the Darkness," Saint nearly spits. "Where they become not defenders of The Traveler, but…spreaders of the Darkness. We are all here to defend what we hold dear but they…they want to take it from us for the mere feeling of being better."

"Now that's a bit of information I haven't heard of, before. Maybe I wasn't looking at the full picture, I mean, how could I? You two don't even come from Remnant." Maria chuckles and a small smile remains on her face. "Ruby, I can be here if you need help with anything, but I do suggest that you listen to Saint and Osiris here, they probably know more than I do."

"Saint can help you hone your skills, perfect them so when you do find your connection to The Traveler, you'll be able to get used to them quicker." Osiris nods to Saint, who puts his hands to his hips. "But…he does get a bit over-the-top, sometimes."

Saint laughs. "Whenever you have any free time, I will be here to help you train for the coming battles to come, do not be afraid of coming to me if you require any aid!"

"Can we start now?" Ruby pumps herself up and raises her fists. "Can you show me how you-"

The patio door slides open. "Ruby!" Yang calls out from the door. Ruby turns to her sister.

"Er, give me a sec," she says, walking inside the house. "Oh, hey guys."

"What's going on?" Jaune says from inside.

"It's Oscar, he's missing."

"The boy is missing!?" Saint exclaims. "We must go find him!"

/

_Land of Darkness._

Salem, scourge of Remnant, mother of the Grimm, smiles upon the endless armies of her creations. The powers that have blessed her so allowed for such…greatness. The snarling and snapping of her creatures gives her peace, even as her mind crosses the thought of Ozpin, and the Lightbearers.

"Tyrian, dear…" her words, smooth and cold like melting ice rings out in her little room at the top of her castle. She realizes the little red-haired girl and her group are headed to Atlas, and with General Ironwood still being the wrench in her plans…he would call upon aid from Vacuo, perhaps Mistral even and that would certainly put her at unpleasant odds.

On top of the added threat of the three Guardians. She had sensed them the moment each appeared. The first was confused, distraught, but strong; she could work something out with them. The second was powerful, determined, a disgusting beacon of Light that would tear through her Grimm like they were fodder. The last was skeptical but sharp in their thinking and clear of mind. This one was powerful, on the same level as the second one.

They would pose a great threat, bigger than the silver-eyed girl or of the kingdoms reunited. She has to stop them before they do too much.

Luckily, there are other agents of the Darkness on Remnant, and she would come up with ways to work with them.

Salem would not let the Light win here, as it did against her father. She knows that this time, it will be a harder fight than her first altercation. She would hold sharp and learn from the mistakes of Oryx.

"Yes, my queen?" The frenzied voice of her associate, Tyrian Callows, accompanied by his incessant giggling, was endearing, but sometimes displeasing. "What is it that you need?"

"You and Watts will be heading to Atlas."

* * *

**Working with Season 6 is harder than I thought. **

**Edit: As far as I know, there's no hard evidence that Guardian can or cannot have children. It's left ambiguous.**


	21. Plan

**The title image is not Saint-14 if you couldn't tell. It's a Titan with Trials gear on.**

* * *

_Mantle._

The woman holding Lisbon by the mouth drags him into a manhole and brings him down with her. Someone closes the cover above them. The air takes a sudden dampness to it that doesn't play well with Lisbon's sensors. He tries to wrestle free, but she's holding quite strong.

"Hey, hey, calm down, we're only here to help!" The woman says. "As I said, I'm Robyn Hill. I'm running for a spot in the council and my group and I are trying to help the people of Mantle." She lets him go.

Lisbon takes a step to create distance and turns to the woman behind him. Her piercing, perceptive violet eyes look like they can tear through any lies he could come up with.

"I'm not from Mantle, I-I don't even know who I belong to!" Lisbon says, making his own pink eyes glow brighter.

Robyn steps back, gasping and looking somewhat aghast. "You're not-"

"I'm not human, I know!" Lisbon says, pulling off his cloak and putting his palms in front of him. "Before you ask, I'm not Atlas-built, I just work for, well, with them!"

Robyn bites her knuckle and grumbles into it before outreaching her other hand, this one gloved tightly except for her index finger. "You're not like the other Atlas bots. Even more human than Penny." She rubs her chin. "Grab my hand."

"Wha-why!?"

Something stomps above.

"Look, the longer we stay here, the more chances that thing has of finding us, so just grab my hand! I promise, it won't be long."

Lisbon grips her palm and stares at her intently. "Alright…now what?" Both their appendages are then coated by a pale lilac glow.

"Were you made in, or by Atlas?" Robyn asks.

"Neither! I just said this-" Lisbon looks down to see his hand glowing green. "Oh, I see, so that's like a…lie detector? In your...hand."

A blindfold wraps around Lisbon's photoreceptors. Someone pulls his arms and ties them behind his back.

"What the—where are you taking me!?" Lisbon struggles against the unknown person's grip. "Did I do something wrong!?"

"Will you calm yourself? This is just a precautionary measure." Robyn says, sighing in clear annoyance afterward. "I just want to know what the heck is going on in there and why districts are suddenly being evacuated like it's a routine every twelve hours." The person leads Lisbon through a series of long walks and turns that can confuse even the most astute Hunters. After a period of time that felt quite short, Lisbon is stopped, and a positive beep sounds, then the whir of a sliding door.

He is dragged in and the door slams shut behind him. The ground shakes and little pieces of dirt land on the Hunter's alloy head. The piece of black cloth on his photoreceptors loosen and are pulled away, allowing him to see.

Lisbon snaps his head side-to-side, assessing his surroundings. The room is illuminated by the light-blue glow of small monitors that litter the walls in a disorganized frenzy. People run to-and-fro with stacks of paper that occasionally have pages slipping to the floor and getting lost underneath all the chaos this place is. There is a grid of tables where some important looking folks are discussing something around a holographic map, while others seem to be enjoying some time off with a drink or a plate of steaming food. One wall is completely taken over by a poster with a single message hastily written sixteen times:

_FUCK YOU I WON'T DO WHAT YOU TELL ME_

Lisbon counts the number once, then twice to make sure his original number was correct.

"Take a seat," Robyn says, more as an order and not a simple suggestion. The sudden directness snaps Lisbon out of his trance. She nods towards a wooden chair that has one leg slanted outwards, making the entire thing uneven.

Lisbon sits down, making sure not to come down too hard in case he would break his seat. He winces as it creaks but relaxes when it doesn't break, only flexing slightly under his weight. He scoots himself closer to a table where Robyn is standing on the opposite side, her arms crossed and two other people at her sides armed with some sort of mixture of a crossbow and a staff. One being a short white woman that has white messy hair, two cow ears protruding from where ears would normally be and an olive green coat. The other is a tanned, masculine-looking woman with green, partially spiked hair and wearing a cocoa brown coat.

"I know that you're being kept on a tight leash but this situation has given us a prime opportunity to hear the truth. We don't have much time, so we need some information, _now._" Robyn leans forward, applying pressure on the table and getting slightly too close to Lisbon for comfort. "We have two minutes before they start pinging you and maybe another three before they send a response team, or even worse, the Ace Ops. Ugh."

"Alright, lady! I'll talk. Do you want to know about this entire thing? Well let's talk about how it started," Lisbon says, crossing his arms and squinting at Robyn, scanning her and picking out the folded crossbow on her left arm. "It was probably a story about some unidentified object that struck an Atlas military site, right? Well, it was me. I did it."

Robyn peers back at Lisbon, eyes narrowing in vigilance. "I want to know about _what_ this thing is."

"It's some sort of nanotechnology that knows how to self-replicate and only knows to self-replicate. It's not organic and takes over anything it can get its hands on. Computer, organic, it doesn't matter."

"Grab my hand again." Robyn reaches out her left arm again. Lisbon grabs it and holds tightly. "Is this disease of natural cause?"

"No, it's not. It comes from a company known as Clovis Bray that I guarantee you will not find any info about." The lilac hue appears on both of them again.

They hold for a second and a green hue covers both of their arms. "You're telling the truth, or at least your version of it." She lets go.

"Anyways, I was supposed to work with Penny to collect samples of this. I'm telling your right now, Atlas isn't prepared to fight this, nor will anyone be if it goes on for too long," Lisbon says gravely, and stands up. "What I'm saying is: Brace yourself, prepare for the worst and invest in anti-electronic weaponry." He turns and heads for what seems to be the nearest entrance. He stops, then snaps his fingers in the air. "I'll keep in touch. I'm due to be arrested in a month or so, I hope you'll help me find a way out?"

"I'll see what I can do, Happy Huntresses, make sure he gets out of here alive!"

. . .

Lisbon manages to lose these "Happy Huntresses" and climbs out of the sewer that Robyn Hill and her group had set herself up in.

His radar flares with enemy signatures all around him.

"_**Get ready…Aksis is near…we're not fighting him, right?**_" Ghost says, worry weaved in his voice.

"Lisbon, there you are! I've been trying to locate you for the last few minutes! Are you in trouble?" Penny's indubitably cheerful voice makes its way into his earpiece. "Do you need help? Hold your position, I am on fast-" Her voice is lost to static.

Multiple legs stab the ground further down the road.

"Penny? Don't come for me, the big thing's hot on my tail!" The lights surrounding turn red. A siren starts blaring.

Lisbon turns as a shadow casts over him.

The remains of Fallen Archon Prime Aksis, taken over by SIVA that transformed what little organic matter was left in its body into pyramidical constructs, stares back at Lisbon. It stays still before roaring in the air, similar to a regular Fallen, but with an eerie, simulated feel to it. Like a computer is trying to recreate an Eliksni battle cry but can't remove the audio artifacts and glitches.

Fallen Splicers surround him, except they aren't Fallen anymore, but horrifying amalgamations of extraterrestrial flesh and deadly machine.

Lisbon's legs don't move. They're frozen in place.

"_**We are LEAVING!**_" Ghost yells.

Lisbon raises one arm and summons a Golden Gun, burning with Light condensed into six molten-hot bullets. He moves at lightning speed as his finger pulls the smooth trigger of his creation while fanning the hammer with his other hand. Bodies melt away and mites of SIVA burst from them, swarming above the flaming husks in a chaotic mess, like a dust cloud but much deadlier. Lisbon holds his breath and closes his eyes as he runs between the mites.

They gravitate towards him like flies over a rotting corpse, eventually taking over his entire torso section and trying to form together to tear him from the inside.

A powerful feeling surges through his wiring. He stops running and turns.

"_**You're going to have to get rid of that SIVA empowerment before it corrupts you!**_" Ghost says. "_**Aksis' spine! Find a way to break his barrier and you can push it inside him!**_"

Lisbon nods and he uses his Light to control the SIVA empowering him, channeling them into a red vein-like structure that wraps around his right arm. It pulsates, the little nanites inside trying to escape its freshly created prison as they multiply by the second.

Lisbon channels his breathing, exerting his newfound control over the machines by forcing them to stay still for a few moments. He shuts his eyes, and balls his SIVA-infused fist, struggling to keep it in check. His entire body glows sky-blue and Arc energy weaves with the SIVA, forcing the nanites to obey its will. Small sparks of red flash from his arm and he charges straight at his enemy. He slides, summons an Arc Staff and forces one end of it through the floor and swings it up, creating a line of blue that rises and strikes Aksis' underside. It hits true and stuns the mechanized beast for a second, making the façade of a Fallen's upper body slump forward, revealing a glowing white crack down its spine. Lisbon jumps, lands on its back and winds up his empowered arm. It takes a moment to charge, the red crackles growing more sporadic and harder to contain. When Lisbon feels it ready, he throws his arm forward, letting his fist punch through dense wiring that's long replaced the Eliksni flesh inside and transferring the SIVA Empowerment.

Aksis screeches and throws his body straight, raising his arms to call forth more SIVA that's found itself in the surrounding buildings, reconstructing the lost vitality.

"_**Now's your time, GO!**_"

/

_Argus. Present Day._

"Huh, looks like everyone's out," Oscar says, opening the door and peering inside. He looks to Lisbon, who shrugs and walks inside. "Wonder what they're all doing."

"Don't know, but maybe it'll give 'em all some time to think about a few hours ago," Lisbon says. "Maybe you can do something nice for them."

"Yeah, maybe I should." Oscar steps inside and glances at the kitchen at his left.

The boy's new gear is a mix of his original design plus a few suggestions from Lisbon that brought the aesthetic into a combination of medieval traveler and Guardian. The olive coat remains, but now magnetic locking capabilities have been added to the back, allowing Oscar to stash his cane there. The patterned wrist straps have been replaced with a thin weave of Kevlar and what the shopkeeper dubbed as "flexible armor plating" that supposedly has the same defensive capability as regular plates. The trousers have remained but Lisbon had modified them to fit a small pistol and a scabbard with a hunting knife at the side of one calf. The bandages were replaced with a white bandanna that glows very slightly.

"Thanks for paying for all of this, by the way. It feels a lot better to walk around in than my old clothes." Oscar scratches the back of his head, chuckling nervously. "I swear I did some things I didn't think I could do at the testing range."

"Shopkeeper nearly blew his bald scalp out of his head looking at you mow through those bots," Lisbon cackles and pats the boy on the back.

"That was pretty cool," Oscar says. "Is there dinner? It's getting late and I don't see anything in the kitchen."

"Hey, you do you kid, but should someone as young as you be around an oven?" Lisbon asks, halfway up the stairs. "Actually, I shouldn't worry about it. Just be sure to warn me if you set something on fire, okay?"

"Uh, alright."

/

"Saint, do you know of a woman with antlers?" Osiris asks, furrowing his brows at the antlered woman in front of him. She came up to him earlier asking very specifically about a Saint-14, which was quite odd because the Titan hadn't told him about knowing anyone outside of the group of young adult warriors they are traveling with.

"Oh, is her name Anna? I know her, is she here in Argus?" Saint bellows into his radio, making Osiris wince. He would have to teach the Exo to lower his voice some time.

"Is your name Anna?" Osiris asks, keeping his feed open so Saint can listen in.

"Yeah, yeah it is. I used to be a weaponsmith for the White Fang, he disarmed me and watched me burn their camp," the woman says. One of her hands is suspiciously close to her waist and from further inspection, it's hovering over a revolver.

"Oh, Anna! How are you? It's been some time since we last spoke!" Saint exclaims. "Osiris, pass the line over to her!"

"Passing on…now," Osiris nods to Anna, who takes out her Scroll device and puts it to her ear. A second later she flinches and nearly falls backwards into a bush.

"Is he normally this loud!?" She pulls the Scroll away from her face and holds her hand above the screen, staring bewilderedly at Osiris. The Warlock slowly nods. "I swear he was quieter in Kuo Kuana."

Osiris shrugs. "Is there anything of importance you wish to tell? I work very closely with Saint-Fourteen."

Anna hesitates. "I'm with a group that's fighting for rights for the city of Mantle, which is just under Atlas. I'm needed in Mantle to help fight some sort of...computer disease, and from what I remember it's programmed to…consume, something, then replicate."

Osiris drops any jovialness he had beforehand. He fixes a stare at Anna. "Consume…enhance, replicate?" He says.

Anna snaps her fingers and her face lights up with a realization. "Yeah, that's it! I think it's also called…SI…VA?"

"SIVA, there is a SIVA outbreak in Mantle?" Osiris pauses. "I see, and from what I'm gathering…you have a history with Saint?"

Anna nods. "Yeah, and now that he's showed up…I think he should be the one to take my spot. He was extremely popular in Kuo Kuana, and I'm kind of surprised he hasn't garnered anything like that here in Argus."

"We've just arrived yesterday, to be fair," Osiris mumbles. "Tell me more about this outbreak in Mantle."

Anna blows a drawn-out breath and shakes her head. "Can't say much. All I can tell is that it's more like a living thing instead of a virus."

"I see, how long has this outbreak gone on for?" Osiris asks. "A week? Maybe two?"

"A few months, actually."

Osiris blinks a few times, registering what was just said. "A few…months?" He says, alarm growing inside his mind.

"Yeah, I heard it's under control-"

"We have to get someone over there _now._ I mean no offense but you are not at all fit to deal with the situation. No one other than a select few is." Osiris pings Saint to come over to his position.

"In comparison, that's right. You sure Saint knows how to deal with it?"

"I am sure."

"I heard everything, Osiris. SIVA? It must be serious. I am almost at your location," Saint says. The Titan screeches to a halt behind Anna, who hops in surprise and turns to him.

"Oh, Saint! You're here!"

"Yes, I am, but the time to speak isn't now. We must go, Anna, you said you had someone who could take me to Atlas? Your line was still open, by the way." Saint's Perfect Paradox appears over his back.

"Oh! Uh, sure, let's go!" Anna sprints the direction Saint comes from, and he follows her.

"I will let the others know," Osiris calls out, watching them disappear behind a building after turning a corner.

"_**So, how are you going to tell this to them?**_" Sagira asks. Osiris shrugs.

"_**I will tell them the truth. If they believe me is up to them.**_"

. . .

Osiris opens the door to the house, intent on walking inside but stopping when his way is blocked by the entirety of teams RWBY and JNPR.

"—That's not just breaking the law, that's…that's definitely worse," Weiss says, her tone unbelieving and surprised.

"How would we even get on the airfield?" Yang asks.

"That part I haven't figured out yet, but-" Jaune is somewhat sheepish and is interrupted by an angry and drunk-sounding Qrow.

"Okay—just stop, just stop!" The drunkard sighs and grips the handrails of the stairs tighter. "Look, if this thing goes south it's not something that we can just fight our way out of. This is the Atlas military we're talking about!" He leans forward, glaring at Jaune before shaking his head dismissively. "For your sake, just drop this."

A quick pause. Osiris thinks; from what he's gathered, the proposed plan was to steal an airship from the Atlas military base that's extended into the sea.

Sagira speaks up. "Osiris and I have a similar plan, but it won't involve breaking into the base, but it will step on Atlas' toes and piss them off if we don't do it right."

"What do you know, you're just-"

"I want to hear her out," Ruby says.

"Ruby…"

"I want to hear her out!" She steps towards Qrow. "You might not have an idea but they've been helping the entire way! So, let's just listen to what she has to say and maybe we can work something out!"

Silence.

"Thank you, Ruby," Sagira chirps. "It'll be long, so make yourselves comfy."

. . .

"Now, I don't have an entire plan just yet, but I do know that there is a communications tower nearby that controls both the Atlas radar for friendly incoming-and-outgoing vehicles and Grimm detection. If we can get a person up there, we could disable the Atlas radar, allowing us to sneak by in a ship undetected." Sagira simulates an entire holographic plan of the military base and the surrounding areas. A red spike in a forested area indicates the radar tower. "Now, you've probably noticed that Saint isn't here. He's being smuggled to help fight a threat in Mantle, which is under Atlas if I'm reading things right."

"Saint's gone?" Blake says. "Why didn't he say something?"

"We met an old contact of his, and she gave her spot up to him." Osiris swipes in the air and a 3D reconstruction of Anna's head appears. Blake looks ready to object. "From what I hear, he helped her out of a group known as the White Fang." She backs down.

"Sagira still has contact with him. Conveniently, he leaves tomorrow, which I assume is when we are going to move, too." Osiris swipes back to the map, and a model of the ship Saint is taking appears. "He can turn it around, and if everything goes to plan, we would be able to board and soar to Atlas without any issues. Or Mantle, depending on which comes first."

"Why can't we just disable the tower remotely?" Weiss asks. "That would save the risk of being caught by a guard."

Terracotta sighs. "I can't believe I'm going to say this," she mumbles. Everyone turns to her. "I work with Atlas communications, and if the tower is disabled remotely, both systems will go down. It would put Argus in danger."

"Exactly," Sagira pipes up. "We need someone that knows Atlas security protocols and someone, or _something_ that can work their magic quickly." The pointy bits of her shell pop out for a second and then return to their original spots as if emulating someone raising their eyebrows.

"I can go," Blake says.

"I'll go with her," Lisbon says from the stairway. "I got my Ghost with me. Osiris is more important around everyone else."

"Then that is settled. I will contact Saint, and let him know." Osiris nods approvingly at Lisbon.

Everyone stays silent.

"What if Cordovin notices?" Jaune asks.

"In the chances of an encounter with the Atlas military, we have two scapegoats."

"Oh, great." Lisbon rolls his eyes. "It's me. I'm the scapegoat. Atlas has a bounty for my arrest."

"Saint does, too," Osiris says. "According to him, 'interfering with top-secret Atlas property' and 'attempted murder of high-level personnel.'"

"That's _bad,_" Weiss says. "That's grounds for…I don't even know what! They'll be thrown in the darkest jail in Mantle while we get arrested for helping them!"

"Again, that is an alternative if our original plan doesn't work out."

"Shouldn't we be trying to avoid any risks like that?" Weiss asks.

"Yes, we should, but this is the only reasonable plan Sagira and I could conceive on the way home, and as you can tell, time is not on our side. Unless if someone has a better alternative, this is what we have to work with."

The white-haired girl mumbles to herself for a second.

"Whatever, I need some sleep," Qrow grumbles, standing up. "You wackos work this plan out, just tell me what to do tomorrow…"

"Of course, Qrow."

Osiris waits for a door to slam and sighs once he hears one. "He's deteriorated."

* * *

**I got a VALORANT key. I've been thinking about a crossover with Viper as a terrorist in Atlas, fighting for Mantle. Political intrigue as she clashes with RWBY's characters.**


	22. Smuggler's Word

**Sorry for the delays. I've been having too much fun with Valorant.**

* * *

"Come on, we're almost there." Anna gestures her hands for Saint to follow her. She goes down a couple of steps that lead to a grey door with a push bar across the middle. It's lit up by a fluorescent light that flickers every so often. The antlered Faunus slams on it a few times then steps back. A tab in the door slides open, revealing a set of glowing eyes.

"Who's the guy behind you?" A quick, somewhat gritty but at the same time nasally voice asks.

"He's filling in for me for Snowbird, I know him, trust," Anna says.

"Robyn didn't agree to have him, she wanted you," the voice retorts.

"Robyn will appreciate my quick thinking when _Saint-Fourteen_ is at her doorstep." Anna doesn't mince her words and speaks sharply. She sounds quite serious.

"Saint-Fourteen? Isn't that the guy who saved Haven Academy's headmaster?" The pair of eyes look towards Saint, who returns it with a neutral stare. "Shit, that is him. Does he know how to work with computers?"

"He knows more about the outbreak than we do. He knows what he's doing, now let us in damnit," Anna asserts herself, stepping forward. "Before I break this damn door down myself."

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry," the voice says. There is a mechanical click, and the door opens into the building for them. "Come in, before anyone sees." The pathway is consumed by blackness, and Saint ponders for a moment if he's standing in front of a teleporter.

The errant thought gets banished from his mind as an incandescent lightbulb turns on, characterized by a slightly warm but not very bright light.

Saint steps in, Anna at his side. The section of the hallway is a bit cramped, leaving little room for the two to maneuver. It narrows down even more at another doorway a few steps forward.

"Don't worry, they're just taking precautions. This is technically still a White Fang cell," Anna says off-handedly.

Saint stops in his tracks and lets her move ahead. "What?" He asks. His right foot reels back.

"Don't get worried, we're not _actually_ White Fang. This is just bait for any potential radicals who want to join up. We link them with various resources in Argus to get them back on their feet." She stops, ducks under the narrow doorway and cocks her head towards the rest of the dim hallway. "A lot of those guys are usually just people down on their luck."

Saint hums in understanding before continuing. He has to bend his knees to get through. He catches up with Anna but keeps a foot or so distance. "If this was a White Fang cell, what happened to them?" He asks.

"Well, when I came to Argus, I was instantly picked up by some White Fang stragglers that thought I was still on their side," Anna begins, stopping at another door. She pounds on it twice. "A week later, I beat up the leadership and took over."

"Impressive, did something inspire you?" Saint chortles and crosses his arms.

"I'm talking to it. I learned more CQC on the way and my style takes a lot from yours." Anna leans her head forward and pulls a bit of her hair back, revealing a massive scarred blemish on the left side of her forehead. "The antlers helped if you were wondering."

"I'm happy you moved on from them," Saint says, patting her on the shoulder. "You will do fantastic here, I just know."

"Thanks. I need to give you something before you leave, though."

The metal door slides open and the two look at the opening for a second before both stepping in side-by-side.

An open warehouse with no real walls separating anything reveals itself to them. In one area there is an armory with a stockpile of weaponry and ammunition on wooden pallets on forklifts that look abandoned rather than trapped. In another, there seems to be a war room with a giant table displaying a glowing blue hologram of Argus as a city. At the far back Saint can perceive what seems to be a firing range with a few people occupying it.

"This was the biggest and most funded White Fang cell on Remnant. The one in Vale didn't even compare, but you can probably tell that it's not funding that determines the effectiveness." Anna laughs. "The place was run by a bunch of schmucks that couldn't lead to save their lives. Probably why no one questioned when I took over, cause I can god damn tell they like me a lot more than those idiots."

"I assume things are running much better now?" Saint asks, his eyes glued on the armory that has a steady flow of people going in-and-out, usually arming themselves with a weapon or putting one away.

"I did what I could. I ironed out most of the inefficiencies, but there's still work to be done. We've just started cooperating with Robyn in Mantle." Anna wraps her hand around one of his fingers. "Come on, I need to show you something before I introduce you to your pilot." She pulls him towards the armory area.

"Of course," Saint says. She navigates through narrow pathways of wooden boxes and ammunition stockpiles, before stopping in a small enclosed region, about the width and length of a Fallen Walker tank.

"Sorry if the place seems confusing. It was designed to flush out any intruders by use of gas and these hallways would isolate them so they could be cleaned up, if they had survived the gas in the first place," Anna mumbles. "We've had a few accidents regarding traps, anyways…" She pulls down a black cloth covering a display case.

Inside the case is a carbine rifle that has blue ribbons arranged vertically next to each other, pinned to the frame using oxidized metal stars and extending a bit past the magazine portion.

Towards the stock end the metal is carved into a pattern resembling feathers. A few multi-colored wires hang out from around the mid-section, behind the ribbons.

Saint scans the rifle for a moment. His metal eyebrows furrow as the weapon seems to evoke a feeling from his memory.

Anna unlocks the case and picks up the rifle with some struggle, as it's about the same width as her entire torso. She shuffles her way to Saint and offers it to him.

"You have any idea what this is?" She asks, poking her head to the side. "A White Fang lieutenant used this against an Atlas soldier. Tore the poor guy to shreds. It shoots three slugs and it can slightly bypass through Hard Light shields."

Saint lowly trills and takes the gun from her hands. He inspects it, listening to its particular and quiet clicks as the mechanisms inside are jostled a bit from his somewhat rough handling. The tips of his fingers hold a wire and he fiddles a bit to put it back into its respective slot. He does the same for the rest and the weapon hums to life, the holographic sights appearing on the top, displaying a four-point star as its crosshair with his signature "XIV" right underneath.

"Anna, do you know where this came from?" Saint asks, unloading the magazine-fed battery on the bottom of the weapon and looking at the still-green power level. "Huh, still has some slugs left."

"Er, from what I could gather, this was stolen from an Atlas shipment, before the embargo. There was a tag on it when I took it off the White Fang lieutenant. That's about it…" Anna says, some sheepishness in her voice. "Is it yours?"

Saint flips the weapon to the side and searches for an epitaph on the side. If this truly was his…

His eyes lock onto the engraving. It's barely legible because of extensive scraping that nearly sanded it off of the frame. Below it, there are five hash marks scratched in and an inscription in Eliksni. His knowledge of the Fallen language is rough but he can make out what it says:

"_dead…little…thieves…_"

The name of the Fusion Rifle comes back to Saint. "_Bastion._" He says. "I regret that it was used by White Fang."

Anna scratches the back of her neck and smiles. "I'm glad I was able to return it to you."

"This is a weapon I lost ages ago. It's a miracle that it even showed up here," Saint says, stashing it over his shoulder, mag-locking it to his back. "Thank you, Anna. For keeping it."

"It looked interesting, and to be honest we were planning on selling it." Anna chuckles nervously. "Glad we didn't. Consider this a parting gift, since we won't see each other in a while."

Saint exhales, looking down at her, beaming with pride. "You've carved a life for yourself here in Argus, and you're about to assist me in saving Mantle from a grave threat. This is a gift that would stay with me until I die my last death."

"Let's get to that, shall we? We're wasting enough time here as it is."

"Of course."

_. . ._

Saint walks up flights of stairs lit up by red emergency lights. Anna is behind him, silent. He takes the quiet moment to ponder how he would proceed into Mantle.

He has been briefed slightly about the conditions in the city under Atlas but he has no idea how he would establish contact with this "Robyn Hill" person that keeps getting mentioned. All he has is her Scroll number but from what he's read about Atlas, they would keep a tight leash on those methods of communication and he doesn't want to risk running into the authorities early on in his incursion.

"We have no way of contacting Robyn from here, so they'll probably point a lot of guns at you, but just say you were sent by me and I think they'll back down. I'll prepare a note just in case," Anna huffs as she stops mid-way on a stair, catching her breath. "You'll leave at noon, that's when you make your way here. You're gonna be on a cargo ship, so there is a risk that it gets frisked, but I think the paperwork should take care of that."

"I'd rather not deal with what you think, but what you _know_," Saint says, pausing to let her catch up. The door to the landing pad is in front of him. "Would it be possible for others to come with me? I have quite a few friends that wish to enter Atlas."

Anna stops in front of him and shakes her head. "Not possible...I think. We've already declared the weight with uncertainties, and they'll get suspicious if the ship ends up being heavier than advertised. You're already pushing it."

"How much are these uncertainties? I am quite a bit heavier than you are," Saint asks. Anna pushes the door open, bringing in a cool draft of air that smacks him in the face.

"We're allowed to claim between twenty to forty percent of the declared weight."

"I wonder if Atlas has trouble with smugglers," Saint mumbles. He locks eyes with a man in a white Atlas flight suit standing on the other side of the landing pad. "I assume that he will be our pilot?"

The man nods, using his metal hand to clumsily push a strand of his hair to the side. He squints and there is a very faint whirring as a white circle appears in his iris that spins back and forth.

"That's him, he'll be flying you to Mantle," Anna confirms.

"I'm bringin' that war machine instead of you?" The man asks, his cockney accent ringing true in his speech. It emphasizes the shock a bit. "You've gone blumin' insane or something? Robyn didn't ask fer this."

"He's going, Gabe."

"Well, you're the one who's payin' me so…"

/

Osiris steps out into the Arc family's backyard. The night air stings at the skin around his upper cheeks. There are a few lights strewn about on the patio, lighting up the wooden flooring but not much else.

"_**Patching Saint in…**_" Sagira says.

"Saint, have you organized a ship to Mantle?" Osiris asks, crossing his arms and leaning against a wooden support for the pergola.

"Yes, I leave at noon. The ship departs from Argus an hour later." Saint says. "Maybe more, depending on how we get through the border."

"Good, we will need that ship," Osiris says, tilting his head slightly. "Is it possible for you to arrange a pick-up, so you can bring everyone else?"

Saint sighs. "No, I've already discussed this with Anna. She says that there is a relay tower nearby that would catch on quite quickly and the added weight would be flagged once we arrive in Mantle."

"We have plans to disable the tower. Try your best to convince the pilot but if it's not possible…take, er, command of the ship."

"Are you asking me to…steal the ship, if they're not cooperative?" Saint asks, a slight pique of anger present in his voice. "I will contact Anna. If she refuses, I am _not_ stealing the ship."

"Saint, please, that ship is our _only_ way to Mantle right now." The Warlock tries to emphasize the word _only_ as much as he can, in hopes that the Titan would understand.

Saint grumbles a bit. "I'll see what I can do." He pauses. "I am only doing this because it's _you_ that is asking me."

"I appreciate it, old friend," Osiris mumbles.

/

Ruby Rose feels herself floating. Like she's drifting through an empty void that doesn't quite know what to do with her. She's alone in this darkness.

Then, the chime of a bell.

The little Huntress is spawned into a dark cave. In front of her, behind all the blocky terrain that she can't quite make out the details of, is some sort of cascading triangle gate, with the one in the center shining white. In front are two tilted pillars that are angled towards each other, keeping in theme with the whole triangle thing this entire place has going on. Even further are staircases that lead down to a space.

Her section is comprised of two concave circles on elevated slabs that provide a good view of the other half of the area.

Ruby searches for Crescent Rose but doesn't find anything. She looks forward when she hears some stomping.

A broad-shouldered, single-eyed bipedal robot steps out. On one hand, it sports a massive cannon that easily dwarfs Ruby. On the other is a bright white blade. The entire being's body is glowing white, especially around its single eye situated on its head and on what looks to be a core on its midsection. It steps down a few of the steps.

A bead of sweat trickles down Ruby's head. She looks to her left and right, hoping that her team would be with her. She's never seen anything like that thing before.

A whooshing sound behind her. She turns around. A team of around six armored people, all of varying sizes stand there, weapons at the ready. The second one from the left she can barely make out as…

Her mother. She's wearing armor in a similar style of the photos there are of her but the cloak is noticeably shorter and her face looks quite a bit rougher than Ruby remembers. A scar traces down the side of one eye and she's holding weapons unlike anything she's ever showed before.

"Mom?" Ruby says. Summer doesn't respond, instead looking up at the giant robot staring menacingly at all of them. "Is…that you?" A small blue eye hiding under her mother's hood, next to her neck makes eye contact with Ruby. Once she notices, it looks forward.

Still nothing from mom.

"Let's take this son of a bitch out," a grisly voice says from the center. "Summer, you're leading your trio. The rest, with me!"

"Understood!" Summer exclaims as she heads off to the left with two other people. One of them wearing a long, pink robe and the other wearing ugly lime green armor plates that seem to be enough to cover a tank. "Eyes open-"

Summer is teleported away, with Ruby in tow. The two people that were assigned with Summer aren't with them, instead, there is a man in a dark, tattered cloak and another person in a robe, this time in a more tasteful white.

The new place isn't exactly new, as it's just the same room as before, but the group is placed in the section where the giant robot came from. Everything's the same, as far as Ruby can tell, but it's all grassier.

"What the f…we're in the past!" The robed person yells as he conjures an orange sphere that expands and burns once it's thrown. A second later his head is smacked clean off by a miniature version of the robot. Ruby gasps and backpedals from the fresh corpse that stays still for what seems like too long.

All of a sudden, the body's consumed in golden fire and the recently dead man rises. "I'm back!" He screams before throwing an uncountable amount of those burning grenades.

Another chime. A yellow cuboid figure appears in the air.

"Oracles, I'll get it!" Summer reaches out her hand and summons a flaming gun, which she uses to destroy the floating apparition. Another appears, and within less than a second, it's gone.

Ruby feels herself being…erased from reality. Darkness creeps into her vision. She begins to feel light, like the lower half of her body is just gone, like it never existed in the first place. Her mind spins as she tries to grasp whatever the heck this place is.

The man in the tattered cloak holds a square shield, that has an X shaped core with a translucent material that fills the space between the corners. He raises it and casts a protective field, similar to Saint's, except it's an entire dome that covers them all and it's near transparent.

"Don't let yourself get erased! Stay close to me!" The cloaked man yells. "Clear 'em out!"

The _ratatat _and the pops of gunfire are everywhere. Ruby cowers behind the person holding the shield, frantically looking around to try and figure out what was happening. She wants Crescent Rose, she wants to help her mom. She wants to not be worthless in this place.

A circular gate turns blue somewhere on the other side of the new area.

"Remember boys and girls," Summer yells, laughing maniacally afterward as she dismantles several of the robots advancing on them with skillful shots of her semi-automatic rifle. "We make our own fate, so let's shove a stick up Atheon's ass!"

All is white.

Ruby's back snaps up as she's brought out of her sleep. She frantically looks around.

The room is dark.

Her chest rises then falls. Her breathing is short, labored. She feels a bit light-headed.

"What was that?" She whispers to herself, sitting to the side of her bed and discarding the blanket that covered it.

A fragment of a voice that she knows isn't hers speaks out in her mind.

"_**Find me in Atlas.**_"

/

_The next day. Argus Communications Tower._

Lisbon nods to his Ghost as he rides on an orange and yellow motorcycle down what looked and felt like a hiking trail. It supposedly led to the communications tower he and Blake were supposed to disable.

"You holding up, Blake?" He says, not expecting an answer from the cat Faunus. "You don't look equipped for the cold."

"Not my first time 'working' with Atlas tech, if you catch me," Blake says, snorting to herself. "Just stay out of the way and everything will go smoothly."

"Hey, we're partners!" Lisbon goes quiet for a moment. "I hate Atlas too!"

"Then why are you going back to it?" Blake asks, crossing her arms. Lisbon turns his head to her, and shrugs.

"Following some friends, don't want to be alone, you get me?" He says, looking forward. He turns the motorcycle and pushes down on the brakes, making the tires burrow into the dirt and bringing the vehicle to a stop. "Last stretch is walking distance, let's go."

"You got it." Blake nods at him and disembarks. "Keep up." She dashes into the forest.

Lisbon rolls his eyes and yawns. He sets off for the tower.

/

"Alright luvs buckle up an' make yourself small!" The pilot announces through the ship's PA system. "Hope you've took off all the armor!"

Saint remains silent, standing stock-still as his nude body is currently stuffed into a wooden crate. The top flexes a bit as he's just slightly too big. His armor is sitting outside, bundled together in another box.

"We're passin' through customs, so _don't_ say anything," the pilot mutters before a click turns the speakers off.

Outside, there is some muffled talking and then the grinding of a door, followed by a few footsteps that enter the cargo hold.

Saint keeps his silence while he traces the origin of the sounds using his eyes.

"Everything seems to be in order…" a muted voice says. They sound old, like they're too tired for this. An exhale. "Though I don't remember this box being in the manifest…"

A few footsteps in front of Saint.

"Oh! Er, it's actually in here, in this picture, right 'ere, heh…" Saint can feel the confidence leaving the pilot towards the end of the sentence.

The customs agent hums. "Well, it won't hurt for me to check, after all of this is declared in good nature, right?"

The wooden box creaks as a crowbar wedges between the lid and the structure. A crack, then it's off.

Saint makes the first move and collides his fist with the face that is closest to him. It makes good contact and then a body falls.

The pilot shrieks and takes two steps back, pressing his back against the wall. "Didn't 'ave to do that, mate!" He whisper-screams, looking bewildered at Saint. "Alright, whatever, suit up and I'll—fuck, we'll just book 'outta 'ere. You said you had some people disabling the comms tower?"

Saint nods and grabs a piece of leg armor. "Yes, you are coming back for my people, correct?"

"Ah—fuck it! I'm in this far, why the fuck not, heh!? Gabe, you're goin' insane!" The pilot pulls at his hairs and lets out a whine between closed teeth. "Alright, the guy has a Scroll, we're gonna use it, fake a clear, and _go._ Got it?"

"Understood," Saint says, descending his helmet to his head. The line down the center glows brightly as it locks on. "This is exciting!"

"And super fuckin' illegal, ya know that!?"

"This entire operation is illegal in the first place," Saint says.

"Touché, now come on!"

* * *

**Let me know if I got the description of the last room of the Vault of Glass wrong. I haven't done D1 raids so this is all off of Datto's video on destroying Atheon. We're also approaching the end of Season 6, so that's pretty cool.**


	23. Split

**You know, The Undying Mind could pull any weapon from any timeline. **

**Also, what are your opinions on RWBY characters being able to wield Destiny exotics? Even for a moment?**

* * *

_Amity Arena, Atlas_

General Ironwood steps into the testing range for the Mind's Weapons, currently placed in the deactivated battle area. His arms crossed behind his back. He locks onto the lead researcher Burns, who is busy typing out his observations of the person in front of him firing what looks to be an old-fashioned revolver at a variety of Atlas training units.

Ironwood walks slowly, taking the time to watch the experimenter wield the black and gold revolver and use it with an elegance that reminds him of his Huntsman days. His brows furrow when he notices that they are holding their left hand at the hammer, fanning it with every trigger pull. It takes a moment to count but it fires eight rounds in a matter of seconds. He hums in interest and the corner of his mouth curves ever so slightly upwards, barely noticeable to even the most trained eye.

Carrying two revolvers around all the time seems…a bit cumbersome now. He glances down to the two weapons on the sides of his hip.

Ironwood clears his throat. "Burns," he says, standing straight. The researcher nearly falls out of his seat and proceeds to snap up straight like a stick.

"S-Sir!" Burns says, his hands already in a salute.

"At ease." Ironwood looks over to the firing range. "I would like to know about the recent drops."

"Y-yes sir, there have only been three weapons that have been found." Burns picks up a tablet and stands beside Ironwood to show the screen. "Two of them are part of the 'Hand Cannon' class of weaponry. The last one is a rocket launcher."

"I assume the weapon being tested right now is part of the former?" Ironwood peers towards the revolver being placed on its side on the table where Burns was working at.

"Yes, it's nothing special, compared to the other guns we've found, really." Burns looks to the revolver too. "The only unique part about this one right here, is that it becomes quite a bit more stable if fired from the hip, as demonstrated by the experimenter a few seconds ago."

"Let me guess, it can distinguish how it's being fired due to…paracausality?" The word is starting to annoy the general, with how often it's used when describing all the weapons The Undying Mind were summoning. "This doesn't seem very special, when compared to…what was that rifle? It shot black holes if I remember correctly?"

"Oh! You mean the _Lance_! Yes, this one is very dull compared to that. To be fair, anything could be considered dull compared to it. We have already locked that one under Protocol April and absolutely no one is allowed to handle it except without your explicit permission." Burns smiles nervously, as if hoping for some approval.

"That's good. Keep going about the revolver."

"Oh! Uh, other than its intrinsic trait, the revolver is abnormally powerful for its rate of fire."

"I see, but go on."

"The rounds have been routinely able to break portable Hard-Light shields within two bullets. It fires at two-hundred-and-twenty-five rounds per minute. For comparison, the latest SDC PDW that fires at such a rate is unable to do so in thirty bullets. Granted, it is an SMG, though. It was the only one we could find that was comparable enough in size and weight."

Ironwood slowly nods and his lower lip extends forward a bit. "Impressive. Make sure to keep that one aside…I may be interested in…requisitioning it, if you understand me." He lets out a small smirk. "Anyways, since I'm already here, report on the two other weapons that you have tested today."

"Oh, of course, sir!" Burns swipes a bit more at his tablet. A few locks of unkempt, greasy hair fall in front of the man's glasses and he tucks them back a few seconds later. "The second hand cannon that we've tested is quite frankly, one of the most powerful pieces of weaponry we have ever laid our hands on."

"Oh, really? Perhaps my Ace-Ops could take advantage. Harriet is doing quite well with the gauntlets you've shown me." Ironwood leans over to see an image of a massive black revolver that looks more like a slab of metal with cutouts at the end for the barrel and a magnification lens above the hammer with a scope in front. It is also quite literally on fire at the barrel.

"This hand cannon is quite unwieldly, the strongest of our testers struggled to handle it efficiently, much less control it." Burns wipes his lips with his forearm. "Simply put, this weapon fires armor-piercing rounds twice the size used in a standard anti-material sniper rifle. We do not understand how it does not explode."

"Let me guess…"

"Paracausality," the both of them say. Burns chuckles while Ironwood snorts.

"It is able to bypass _any_ barrier without effort and can damage the target behind _unaffected._" A pause. "This has great potential in dealing with particularly armored Grimm, demonstrated by current results. It tore through an Ursa Major with a single round. There is some range drop-off, however it manages to dispatch Beowolves at ranges that would make them tiny blobs on the scope."

"It does justify its size." Ironwood rubs his chin, pursing his lips as he thinks about which regiment of the Atlas military to hand this off to. Perhaps the 1st Field Artillery could use a nice boost, they've been doing quite well. He would have to file the paperwork later.

"Even our strongest operators weren't able to fire off two consecutive shots without shooting the roof on the second shot."

"Interesting…now the rocket launcher." Burns projects an image of a shoulder-wielded contraption that looks to have been constructed in the basement of a mad scientist. It looks more akin to a power generator with a giant metal bulb in front sporting several holes arranged in honeycomb patterns. "…What is this, exactly?"

"I've already requested it be locked away under Protocol April_,_" Burns says. The scientist shudders. "Sorry, this thing…it's just unbelievably dangerous."

"In what way? Burns, we have a weapon that can shoot black holes, there's quite possibly nothing that can top that." Ironwood raises an eyebrow and uses his hands to manipulate the 3D holograph of the kit-bash rocket launcher in front of him. "This looks like it will self-detonate the moment it fires."

"That is _exactly_ the issue, sir. The rocket launcher fires a volley of eight blue rockets that track at short range and do _considerable_ amounts of damage to anything in its path, to put it lightly." Burns takes a deep breath and wipes his brow. "We brought it to the tundra to test it out against a pack of Grimm. To say that it levelled them is putting it lightly."

"Interesting, I can see why it could be dangerous, but I don't see the reason for Protocol April."

"You see, putting it simply, if it, god forbid, _misfires_, it could do two things, both of which are pretty bad." Burns pauses. "It can A: Eviscerate Atlas in its entirely, with no debris to even indicate it has existed in the first place. Or B: Create what is known as a _strangelet_ that will devour this entire planet."

"I…see." Ironwood hums and swipes the hologram away. "I'm glad you took action, but some communication beforehand would have been appreciated."

/

_Argus._

"You would think a guard would be nearby? We're pretty close to the tower," Lisbon mumbles as he looks up at the relay tower from a tree. He uses the scope of his sniper rifle to zoom in at a guard station situated at the entrance, in front of the hill the tower is on. "Looks like someone's sleeping on the job…"

"Lisbon, I don't think they're sleeping…" Ghost says. "No life signs. Two on the tower."

"Something's wrong. Blake?" Lisbon speaks into his radio, shouldering Omniscient Eye. "Blake? Are you okay?"

"_Another one of your 'friends' Blake?" _A male voice replies, speaking from a distance. "_Is he gonna come save you like Saint-Fourteen did?_"

"_Last I remember, he proved how much of a coward you were,_" Blake snarls back. Blades clash. The male voice growls and bellows.

Electronics crunch. The line cuts out.

"Let's go." Lisbon nods to his Ghost and he launches off of a branch to another. He has to pass a few trees to land at the bottom of the CCT relay. He goes invisible upon reaching one of its concrete bases. A body falls from above, landing with a _poof_ and the crackling of broken bones.

It's an Atlas soldier, their face drained of life. A clean stab through their abdomen seems to have done them in. Blood leaks into the dirt below.

"Dead," Lisbon whispers as he looks up. There is sword fighting upstairs, that much he can tell. A contact between a hard piece and flesh sounds itself, and Blake cries out in pain. "Well, let's get climbing."

Lisbon takes the ladder and makes his way up to the top as fast as he can. He can hear the fighting get closer, taking note of the numerous _whooshes_ of air as Blake clashes with this unknown assailant.

A red streak nearly takes Lisbon's head off as he climbs to the last platform. A man in black and red is strangling Blake, holding her at the rail while the latter is leaning backwards.

"_**Work on the radar, I'll get this guy.**_" Lisbon draws _Ancient Gospel _and fires a volley of rounds into the man's back.

The man flinches at the impacts, lowly grunting with every shot landed. He turns, still holding Blake by the throat, and looks at Lisbon unimpressed, even visible underneath the cloth covering his eyes.

"Is this him, Blake? Is this your savior this time?" The man taunts. Blake struggles and he throws her aside. "Is he going to fight for you while you run away?"

"Shut up! He's my _friend_, Adam!" Blake snarls back as she picks herself up, and points her sword folded into a pistol at this Adam person.

Adam chortles and slightly unsheathes a crimson red blade from its scabbard, angling the butt of it towards Lisbon. "Let's see how far he'll go for you."

"Blake, get away from here. I got this," Lisbon says. He charges his fists full of Arc before charging at Adam. The blindfolded man spins and slashes his blade sideways. Lisbon parries with his arms before rolling to the side, creating a white protective field around him that forces Adam to dash backwards as his blade is slowed in it. Lisbon manages to draw Ancient Gospel with unparalleled quickness and gets off a few more shots, which are expertly deflected. He sheathes the hand cannon and focuses his breathing.

Adam dashes, holding his sword partially unsheathed from its hilt.

Lisbon summons an Arc staff and holds it by the edges to parry a heavy-handed slice. He pushes Adam's sword back and twirls, smacking the blindfolded man in the stomach with the bottom end of his staff. Adam is sent into the air but he catches himself and propels head-first off of nothing for a return slash that strikes the edge of Lisbon's hood, cutting into it slightly. He tumbles backwards and uses the gained space to send a Tempest Strike that barely misses Adam's center.

The two side-step in circles. Lisbon waits for Adam to make the first move. The blindfolded Faunus does so and begins with hard-hitting one-handed swings that is countered by the strength of the Light. Lisbon fights in retreat as he backs himself into a pole and gets ready to make his first offensive move.

Blake throws herself into the fight by coming at Adam with a flurry of light swipes that don't do much when he uses some sort of charged swing that throws her back.

"Blake, you're gonna get yourself hurt, get away!" Lisbon yells.

"This is my fight as much as it's yours!" Blake says in return. Adam chuckles.

"Really? Now it's your fight?" Adam scoffs. He tries to say something else but is blind-sided by Lisbon's Arc staff that strikes him center mass.

Lisbon prepares to follow up, waiting for the parry attempt and once it comes, unsummons his weapon and using his off-hand to land a charged punch into Adam's cheek. When the man tries to retaliate, Lisbon Blinks to the side and grabs him from behind, by the neck. The Hunter kicks the back of Adam's legs, forcing him to his knees.

Blake jumps up, and kicks off of the railing, face full of fury and her blade ready to decapitate, judging from her shoulder charging up for a swing. Adam headbutts her away and struggles with Lisbon, before throwing his entire body forward, sending the Hunter, still holding onto his neck, to the floor in front of him. Undeterred by the continued resistance, Adam shakes him off. He fires his shotgun at the space that Lisbon used to occupy, before making a confused "huh?" He is kicked in the face by Blake, sending him to the edge of the platform, his hip crashing into a metal bar.

Lisbon rushes Adam, raising his knee and holding it firm against Adam's stomach, pushing him against the railing before raising his fist and throwing it against the short-horned Faunus' cheek, sending his face to the side. The resistance of his Aura made it feel like punching a metal plate that gives when struck in the center.

Adam snarls in return before grabbing Lisbon's forearm and pushing it against his torso, forcing the Hunter back before following up with a harsh kick to the crotch that's enough to make metal crunch. Lisbon staggers and cries out in pain. He summons two Void blades to deflect the next onslaught of blade strikes only to find the hilt of a sword headed straight to his face. It collides, breaking off some fragments of his cheek then bounces up, falling down into Adam's hand. He holds a smug smirk as he follows up with several shotgun blasts to pelt Lisbon even more.

Lisbon's breath hitches as the pellets dig into his body. His mouth glows a faint pink as he struggles to breathe. He manages to suck in a shallow breath. "O-oh…that was…ack-"

A warning of "CATASTROPHIC SYSTEM FAILURE IMMINENT" flashes in red in front of Lisbon, obscuring his sight. He can barely make out Adam taking one step towards him.

"Tch," Adam chuckles. "Well? Are you watching Blake? Watching-" Lisbon's hearing functions fails him. Everything goes silent.

Adam sheathes his blade again, only letting out a small part of the red metal show. It begins glowing vibrantly.

Lisbon can make out Blake saying something along the lines of: "No!" before lunging at Adam but backing away using one of her clones as cover as Adam slices Lisbon in half with a wide stroke of his sword that had the potential of taking her out too.

The Hunter falls over in two pieces, wires sparking violently. The left side of his body lands not too far from his right side. The pink lights in his eyes fade, and life disappears from him as quickly as the final blow was delivered.

Adam laughs at his work.

"Y-you MONSTER!" Blake tackles the man over the railing, down to the ground below.

Ghost peeks out from behind the pole.

"_Guardian down._"

/

"Alright, alright, the bloody agent has a tablet that is used to let us go or keep us in. You stay hidden, I'll deal with it." The pilot rushes off to the body of the customs agent, unconscious and lying on the floor. He grabs a tablet that's fallen not too far and taps a few things on it before laying it on the agent's body. "Go, hide, hide now!"

Saint conceals himself behind a few boxes and watches between a crack to see the pilot rush out of the bay door and call for help. An Atlas soldier is quick to respond and comes in.

"The guy hit 'is nose pretty bad ye," the pilot says.

"It does look bad," the soldier replies, bending over to inspect the body. "I'll call for a medic. Where'd he fall?"

"Oh! Er…right here!" The pilot points towards a spot that has a few specks of blood, but clearly not enough to convince even the densest of fools that someone had fallen there.

"Uh…huh." The guard doesn't look convinced. "I'll be back, with a medic team." He steps out.

A minute later, there is about a dozen people that are pointing their weapons inside the ship.

"Ah, fuck. Cover's blown. We're outta 'ere boys!" The pilot screams maniacally before shutting the cargo bay door and rushing to the cockpit, evading a frenzy of energy rounds by the skin of his teeth.

Saints steps out from his cover and blocks the cargo bay with a Sentinel Shield, to protect the rest of the cargo.

"_Guardian Down!_" Lisbon-13's Ghost yells into comms.

"What!?" Saint murmurs to himself. "Osiris, what is happening over there!?"

"I heard the message too, don't worry, Lisbon can handle himself," Osiris says with a calmness that borders on insult. "The radar system is down. We have a five-minute window before a backup system comes into place."

"Your composure disturbs me sometimes, friend," Saint says. The ship whirs to life and flies out of the customs air dock. "We are on our way."

"We have a solid two minutes before they send out a dispatch squad, I can squeeze in a pick-up for your friends but if they're not there I am leaving, got it?" The pilot says through the intercom.

"They will be there, now go, before they destroy your ship!" Saint yells in return.

"Couldn't have said it better meself, mate!" The ship's engines spin to life and propel it to the outside, escaping any potential boarders.

/

"Osiris, we are on our way, is everyone there!?" Saint bellows into his radio.

Osiris looks to Ruby and nods. "We're missing Lisbon and Blake, they haven't returned from the relay tower." He glances over to Yang, who's biting her non-prosthetic knuckle and looking worriedly to where the two missing teammates departed from.

"The military's forming a defense barrier around Argus, whatever it is your guy is carrying, they _don't_ want it leaving Argus without approval," Qrow says, looking into the sky as dozens of Manta ships fill the air, holding a sort of defensive position. "Holy shit, their entire air force is out there searching for him. Call it off, we're all gonna get shot down if he stops for us!"

"Saint, there are dozens of Atlas ships in the air, where are you!?" Osiris says, materializing the Monte Carlo in his hands.

"I see him, do we know what's happening with Lisbon and Blake?" Ruby points to a dark speck in the distance that is progressively growing in size.

"_We're fine, we're caught up with some blindfolded asshole, he's calling himself Adam!_" Lisbon's Ghost says. "_Tell the pilot to hover around the pickup point, we still have time before they are able to pinpoint your exact location, I threw out several dummy pings!_"

"They're flying into Argus, where did you put them?" Qrow says, worried. "This whole thing is gonna cause a panic!"

"_That doesn't matter right now, just be grateful they haven't reduced you all to ash yet!_"

"Adam…" Yang says, her teeth gritted and her fists tightened.

"Do you know him?" Osiris asks.

"We all do. He cut off my arm," she says, shaking her head afterwards. Her prosthetic trembles. "I'm going over there to help them-"

"You will _not_, Lisbon and Blake have it handled-"

"Then what did '_Guardian down!_' mean!?" Yang lashes out, her eyes flaring red and her hair turning orange. "She's alone out there, I have to help her!"

Osiris inhales, and breathes out. "If you go out there, you run the risk of not being picked up, which Lisbon and Blake are dealing with right now. I assure you, they have it handled."

"You wouldn't know, you weren't at Beacon," Yang spits, crossing her arms and turning away from Osiris, scoffing afterwards.

Osiris doesn't bother to pursue the argument when she walks away from him, heading to Ruby.

/

Blake Belladonna clashes with her former colleague in the middle of a spruce forest. She weaves between trees to try and get a good hit on Adam, but he's always one step ahead of her.

The rage-fueled adrenaline is starting to wear off as she engages yet another stalemate that only serves to tire herself out. Adam doesn't look to be faltering, even after taking the beating Lisbon gave him. She holds her position on a branch, and feels something vibrate at her waist. She looks down and to her surprise, there is a Scroll there.

Hers got destroyed at the relay tower, how does she have one on her? The device expands, revealing a single message.

_Get to an open area. Sooner the better._


	24. Pierce

**I'll probably introduce some of the Trials of Osiris weapons sometimes, considering half of them aren't very special. Still looking for that QD Astral Horizon though.**

**And about Bumblebee. It's a ship that I'm pretty sure people don't like due to the fact that it's just there and doesn't really advance much other than some cutesy scenes and some cool synergy between Yang and Blake (so far at least). It **_**might**_** happen in this story and if it does it would probably be a bit more subtle (some small lines here and there, minor details, etc.) and impactful (e.g one would take an irrational/selfish/boneheaded decision for the other). Still on the fence because I think it's a pairing that could do very well if used properly. **

**Also a note on Lisbon-13: He will obviously not be a perfect character and I intend to take him through a darker route.**

* * *

A flash of white, and a whoosh of air. Lisbon's feet land against metal scaffolding.

"G-G…Guh…" He looks down to his chest and hits it a few times with the side of his fist. "G-G..."

"_**I'll get working on that,**_" Ghost says sheepishly. "_**Sorry, still struggle with the voice box sometimes.**_" He starts blasting Lisbon with beams of Light.

"_**Appreciate it. Is Blake going to the waterfall?**_" Lisbon dusts his shoulders and pats his lower half, making sure it was still there. "_**That should be the only place in reasonable distance that fits in the descriptor of 'open area' right?**_"

"_**I'm tracking your Scroll's position. She's almost there. You better get moving, I asked Sagira for Osiris' Sparrow. She said to keep it in one piece.**_" Lisbon hops over the railing, facing the direction of the new waypoint in the form of a white diamond on his HUD. He uses his double-jump to break his fall and meets the ground without so much as an impact.

"_**Psh, that'll be easy. I was good at SRL.**_" Lisbon rolls his shoulders and looks down at the bog-standard dark-grey Sparrow.

"_**You won your first race. You didn't play anymore to eh-hem, 'keep the one-hundred percent win rate.'" **_Ghost can't contain the unimpressed tone.

"_**Whatever, the race I did win was great, though,**_" Lisbon says as he climbs on the Sparrow. His hands grip the handlebars in front and his feet insert themselves into the slots where the accelerators sit. "_**Now…time to find out if I was decent at clearing a forested area.**_"

"_**This isn't your Sparrow, might I remind. This is Osiris' if I wasn't clear enough.**_"

"_**Oh, I am aware.**_" Lisbon revs the engine and puts the Sparrow into turbo boost, blasting down the spruce forest. He speeds past branches, bushes and general small forestry without any trouble, the floating vehicle crushing or breaking through without a hitch.

"_**Good grief, you are impossible sometimes.**_"

Lisbon ignores the declaration and focuses his attention on _not_ wrecking his only mode of transportation to potentially save Blake from that Adam creep. The Hunter isn't sure if she would win a fight alone against the blindfolded swordsman, which makes him somewhat anxious that he left her alone.

He off-handedly wonders of how she would react when he would eventually show himself again.

The dull yet powerful whirring of the Sparrow's engine, untuned and most likely still fresh out of the factory, soothes Lisbon. He plans his approach. Ghost puts up a map of the waterfall area, with a flashing dot indicating Blake's position, which is rapidly approaching. There is a natural archway bridge in front of the waterfall, about the size of an open field and with the same amount of barriers at one. If someone wasn't careful enough, they would fall into the rapids below. Lisbon suspects that area would be where Blake would go to, and maps a route to the vantage point above the waterfall. It would buy him a few shots of Omniscient Eye that could help weaken Adam, but that's about it. He knows he would have to go back down there to fight the man one-on-one, again.

This time, Lisbon won't lose. Adam is obviously the superior close quarters combatant, so Lisbon would try to avoid such an encounter. He'll rely on his Golden Gun but if things get too intimate to his liking, he'll use his Arc staff to push back and create distance.

It won't be the stronger fighter that'll win this round. Lisbon has full intentions to use whatever is necessary to incapacitate before a fight even starts, even if it would be cruel or dirty. He'll make sure that Adam is crawling and begging for mercy before even having a chance to draw his sword.

Lisbon deviates to a path that goes up a steep hill, making him force the accelerator to push out as much power as it can, while at the same time keeping an eye on Blake's Aura meter. Omniscient Eye materializes on his back and he leans his body to the side, parking the Sparrow in the same direction that the stream before the waterfall flows.

"_**Patch me in,**_" Lisbon says as he disembarks and unshoulders his sniper rifle. He crouches on top of a bit of rock that splits the water stream in two.

He scopes in, and lines up his first shot.

/

Blake heard the high-pitched whine in the background. She changed her fighting style to be a lot more reactive, giving Adam tons of space to do his work, in the hopes that either Saint-14 or Yang would come on down from above.

She was hopeful for one of the two but at this point she would take just about anyone that could help her fend off this lovesick madman.

Blake sheathes her enemy's sword into her own, holding it in her other hand while she pushes off of her other foot to flip and then kicking off on Adam's back, sending him stumbling in the opposite direction. She jumps up, twisting and twirling her body while using her shadows to dodge a few shells of Blush.

Whoever this person was, they were taking a lot of time to make their move. Blake hesitates to rush back in, worrying about the potential of being caught in an area of effect attack. It would take her and Adam out at the same time. She shakes the thought from her mind as she flies towards him, slashing Gambol Shroud against his shotgun before conjuring one of her shadows for him to shoot while she attacks him from ground-level. Adam takes a few steps back, firing Blush twice while she pushes forward, repelling his attack with two well-timed parries, one with her sword and the other with his. Blake lunges at him and her face meets a boot, which she answers by flipping backwards, creating another shadow suspended mid-air and upside down, which he attacks. The temporary distraction allows her to regain her footing a few feet away from him.

She pushes off her right leg to gain airtime and twirls to try for a dropkick which Adam reacts to by blocking with Blush. Using it as a platform, Blake twists her body, conjures another shadow and tries to flip over behind him but Adam cuts her off with a hit to her leg, making her stumble to the floor. Barely having time to recover, Blake raises Gambol Shroud horizontally with one hand, blocking Adam's rifle that's held perpendicular against it, while her other hand is held in place.

"I wouldn't have to be doing this if you'd just behave!" Adam yells, leaning into her and closing an uncomfortable amount of distance between their faces. Blake struggles to hold against his strength and her arms are pushed outwards. In a second, Wilt is suddenly free and Gambol Shroud's scabbard is discarded to the waters below.

In the moment Blake registers what happened, a hilt crashes into the side of her head, sending her tumbling to the ground. A high-pitched ringing takes over her hearing. She quickly scrambles to her feet just in time to protect herself from getting cut in two. His hard swing sends her down again.

"But you're selfish!" Adam steps to her body and swings again.

She weakly raises Gambol Shroud and barely blocks again.

"You're a coward!"

Panting and worn out, Blake holds herself on all fours.

"You're delusional," she snaps.

Adam steps closer again. Blake turns onto her back, looking up at the sociopathic blindfolded stalker that is Adam Taurus.

He points Wilt at a scar on the lower left side of her stomach, just above her hip. He exhales and lets out a vicious snarl as he charges up another strike. It goes for her sword, breaking it in half and sending the two pieces to the edge of the area.

There is a moment of tense silence, save for the dull rushing of the waterfall to their left.

The possibility of someone helping her out is quickly fading from her mind, and she's beginning to accept her own demise.

At least she will die doing something for others.

Adam slips off the black piece of cloth covering his eyes, revealing an SDC brandmark on his left eye that seems to have melted it shut. The right one looks at Blake angrily. The vitriolic hate that she had once seen as justice is still present, and it makes her spine freeze staring into it.

Funny how things have changed so much. Would she have thought the same of him if he hadn't chased her across Anima? Hadn't been involved at Beacon? Maybe.

"People hurt me long before we met." Adam chuckles, a sad smile forming on him. "All sorts of people, in all sorts of way."

"But no one hurt me quite like you-"

Several high-pitched pews from what sounds like a laser gun come from above the waterfall. Blake snaps her head in that direction to see a red glare firing on Adam. She counts six impacts before a whoosh of air and someone landing next to her.

A hooded figure stands beside her, wearing saggy and loose fitting pants that have a tacky purple-to-violet gradient color scheme.

The relief that washed over her turns into confusion as she somehow recognizes this person, despite their face being completely obscured in shadow. They glance over to her, regarding her with two glowing pink irises that allows her to make the connection in her head.

Something isn't right.

It couldn't be him, could it? She just saw him get sliced in half!

"Lisbon?" Blake mutters as the hooded figure summons a flaming six-shooter revolver in its hand. "How?"

"You again?" Adam nearly spits as he blocks a golden bullet with Wilt, his feet grinding against the floor as the sheer power of it knocks him back a few inches.

Lisbon sighs, a small smirk forming on his metal face. He snorts, and takes off his hood, revealing his nearly scratch-free face. "Adam, I want to thank you. You settled a few things in my mind. A few uncertainties about my past."

"I'll cut it short, what you're doing is teaching me what would happen if I don't let go." Lisbon snorts. "You're batshit insane, is what I'm trying to say."

"Wha-" Adam is cut off as he's fired upon by several more molten rounds of that flaming revolver.

"So let's dance, we need to get even. Blake, stand back, catch your breath. Whenever you're ready, you can get involved." Lisbon tosses the broken Gambol Shroud to her before throwing himself into the fight.

/

Lisbon rolls, sending out a pulse wave that should disorient Adam for a few seconds, thanks to the Gemini Jester pants he had Ghost dig out of the dusty parts of his mind.

It works and Adam shakes his head to presumably clear himself of the blinding and nauseating effect the pulse sends out to its victims. Lisbon moves in from behind. He dashes behind the branded Faunus, letting loose three Golden Gun shots that make the three points of a triangle into Adam's back. Adam stumbles forward.

"Adam, the more I learn about your obsession with Blake, the more it makes me think about myself," Lisbon says, letting Adam regain his footing. "You're obviously angry, and disillusioned. You're trying to right her wrongs, huh? You think she's the problem, right?"

"You don't even know the start of it…" Adam mumbles before jumping into the air, slightly unsheathing his sword from its scabbard. The Hunter side steps, sending out another pulse wave that disorients the Faunus. He throws down an exploding throwing knife around where Adam would land, blowing it up as he does and kicking up dust that obscures him for a second.

"Partners in crime, huh? I used to have someone like that," Lisbon muses, twirling the Golden Gun in his hand as he waits.

"How do you even…?" Adam bats at the air to disperse the dust cloud covering his body, emerging from the dirt-colored mass angrier than before.

"Don't worry, I was in that position too. My friends went down a path I didn't like, and just like you, I chased them down to stop them." Lisbon pauses, and he observes Adam letting up a bit, his weapon faltering. "The difference between our stories is that I succeeded, while here, you won't, no matter how you take my little speech. I thought it was cathartic, but in the end, I felt nothing. I had achieved my goal, did I not?"

"I chased down my two closest friends, one of them my lover. Their names were Rekkana and Yardarm. They stuck through with me thick and thin, I would do anything just to have another chance to make things right. I'm sure that somewhere deep inside you, maybe it's your heart, or your brain, that you want to maybe work things out with Blake."

The story isn't entirely true, but the real one wouldn't have fit the situation. The alteration is necessary for this gambit to work out.

Even if it burns a hole in his own self.

"I'm telling you right now, what you're doing, you won't find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, or whatever it is you're trying to find." Lisbon lowers his own gun, making it disappear and showing his palms to Adam. "I want to help you, because I hate having to see someone else experience the same thing I did. Either that, or I blow your brains out right here and you die with pointless anger and go down in history as an obsessed psycho who abandoned his cause to chase down an ex-girlfriend."

Another technical lie, but whatever it takes.

Adam remains silent, looking at him with suspicion in his one eye. His sword stays somewhat at the ready, but the hand grabbing it is slightly shaking.

"Put down the sword, and let's talk. Think about something else than Blake, right?" Lisbon tries to sound as soft as possible, making sure his words can't be interpreted any other way than friendly. He watches his pronunciation, deliberately slowing down his speech and keeping him clear.

"That would…"

"Be good, right? I'm gonna take a few steps closer, okay?" With his hands raised, Lisbon walks towards Adam, his steps deliberate and slow. His eyes flicker to Blake, who seems to understand his unsaid message.

She slowly stands up, holding the hilt of her sword with both hands. Her feet as light as the air around them, she makes her way to behind Adam.

Adam, on the other hand, seems to be stuck at a crossroads in his mind.

Lisbon is still wary in his approach. Ghost transmats his knife—a longer version of an old gut knife that is standard with all Hunters—into his sleeve, ready to slide down into his hand.

Now maybe a couple feet away from Adam, Lisbon reaches out one hand, intent on grabbing Adam's own. Like his steps, he's slow, making sure to keep all his actions visible.

"Be foolish." Adam chuckles before drawing his sword and driving it through Lisbon's stomach.

Lisbon winces and grumbles. "Blake...!"

A jagged edge is driven through Adam's chest, soaked in the dark red substance as it pops through.

Adam sucks in a breath. His hands tense and start shaking uncontrollably. He looks down to the broken sword poking through his chest, his eye wide and his body still.

Blake pulls back her blade and drives it through again, making Adam wheeze in agony.

Lisbon pulls himself back, a red sword still in his abdomen. The weapon pulses red.

Flesh squelches again as Blake continues to repeatedly impale Adam. His body collapses, and she doesn't stop. Blood splatters, little dots of red covering Blake's body as she keeps going.

Ghost gets started on fixing Lisbon's wound while he looks on the carnage that Blake is doing to Adam's torso.

"B-bl…" His voice box fizzes out. Ghost peppers him with scans and transmats the sword away before beginning repairs on Lisbon.

He watches on in stunned silence as Blake cries into Adam's mangled corpse.

"It's finally over…" she sobs, dropping Gambol Shroud. It clinks against the floor before resting.

"Blake…" Lisbon reaches his hand out to her shoulder, in an attempt to console her.

"Don't. Don't touch me." She snaps her head up, the fury of a hundred Cabal flaring through her eyes.

Lisbon backs off, and takes another step to emphasize. "Okay," he says, his voice barely audible. He turns.

A pause.

"I'll…er, be back with the Sparrow."

. . .

Lisbon takes his time to ferry the Sparrow down to Blake, wanting to give her time to think about things. He's glad this entire Adam thing is done with now. One less obstruction to the general cause.

He leans on the side of the Sparrow, looking at Blake who's standing atop Adam's body, her slightly sunken face still bloodied.

"I hope you rot..." She mumbles, barely audible to even Lisbon.

"You ready?" Lisbon asks, crossing his arms and taking his spot on the driver's seat. Blake quietly nods and sits behind him. "Let's go." He breathes in, exhales, and speeds off into the forest, back towards the marked pick-up point on his HUD.

A few minutes of driving pass, the sound of the Sparrow's engine being the only thing accompanying him as Blake seems to be elsewhere.

"What you said to Adam, was it true?" She asks, breaking the silence.

Lisbon bites his tongue, to delay himself from answering. His mind goes over his answer, and he exhales. "Not all of it," he says.

"Rekkana, and Yardarm, were they real?" She asks, her voice hesitant. She knows she's treading on thin ice right now.

"Yes, those two were real." A lump forms in Lisbon's throat. "I'm glad you took Adam out before I could continue."

"I…I guess we all have sore spots, huh?" Blake says, her voice low. "Did you think you could actually convince him?"

Lisbon pauses. "Yes," he lies. "I thought I could."

"About the communications tower…" Blake's voice drops off. "Actually, never mind. I'll ask you later."

"No, no, it's fine, go ahead." Lisbon braces himself for the question. She knows he died. "I know you're confused about it."

"I…I saw you get…cut in half, how are you…you know, here?"

"Funny thing, I got cut in half, heh…" Lisbon goes silent. Is this the time to be truthful? "I…can rebuild myself. It's a feature, you could say. As long as half my heart is intact, my buddy can put me back together."

"I…see." She doesn't sound too convinced. Does she think he died?

He doesn't check to see if she buys the explanation. It'll hold for now.

/

"_Lisbon here, Blake and I are safe. We're on our way back, ETA a couple of minutes. Please hold._" Lisbon's voice is a relief to Osiris, who lets out a pent-up breath.

"Understood, do make your way back quickly Lisbon," Osiris says.

"The pilot will hold for a few minutes, if they aren't back by then, we are leaving without them," Saint says, stepping out from the cargo hold of the ship he's using to help them.

The pilot, a disheveled and scratchily bearded man pokes his head out. "Da 'ell 'ave you guys done to the place, bloody pilots are scramblin' everywhere!"

Qrow pipes in. "To buy you your time, we've had to…er, throw the military off."

"Er…alright," the pilot says, unconvinced. "Causin' quite the stir, though. Ya sure we won't run into any…"

The ground shakes.

"Spoke to soon 'aven't I."

"Guys…" Jaune says, his voice trembling. "Big Grimm…" The blonde boy points to a monster similar to ones seen in Golden Age movies advancing upon Argus. It's a long-snouted Grimm, it's head looking like a dolphin's. Typical with any Grimm, it has an entirely black body with osseous armor strung along strategically, protecting its claws, torso and face. It has gills down its back with several spikes that protrude down its arched spine. A shockwave pulsates through the airs as it screeches into the bright blue sky.

"Holy…we have to do something!" Ruby exclaims. "How long until we can get in the air?"

"Ruby slow down. This is our chance to escape to Atlas, we have to use the chaos this creates in order to make our escape," Osiris says. "Its opposition seems to be ready for it."

"Besides," Sagira buts in. "Argus' defense system has dealt with this Grimm before. Just wait a few minutes."

The boot island quite literally splits into two, like a shell that is cut down the center and split apart as a two-armed and two-legged mech steps out. It sports one massive cannon on one arm while the other seems to be a giant, mechanical hand. It is thin towards the midsection, only having an armored metal spine that supports a thick head and heavily armored legs. There is a tinted-glass window shaped like a sideways bracket on the front, obscuring anyone from looking inside.

"All airborne units, converge on my position, maintain holding pattern echo-echo-two." Cordovin's voice pierces through the radio. "All current non-military airborne vehicles, please make an emergency landing at the nearest pad, you will be treated as hostile if you are still in our airspace."

The Atlas ships make a full turn, speeding towards the piloted mech that seems to be operated by Caroline Cordovin herself.

"'Oly shit mates. We cross that thing and we're good as dead," the pilot says. "We gotta go, while it's distracted by da giant fookin' Grimm."

"No, I think we can do something about this!" Ruby says. "It's still far from the giant robot, we can get in there before it gets close to Argus!"

"What? Ruby, are you crazy!?" Qrow says. "This is our chance to get to Atlas!"

"The Atlas ships are getting shredded by the Grimm, we're not sure if Cordovin can hold against that giant thing, we have to do something! I have a plan, you have to trust me!"

Osiris taps his foot, shuts his eyes and hums in thought, before shaking his head. "Now is not the time for heroics, Ruby. This is only a realistic take, we won't-"

"Nonsense, Osiris." Saint steps in. "Hear her out. I want to see what our little ball of Light can do."

Osiris exhales in annoyance. "Saint, we briefed her about this very recently. I'm not sure if it would be prudent to-"

"I understand the risks, but you have to trust me, friend," Saint says, turning to the giant Grimm that's currently decimating the blue translucent barriers that are setup in perimeters out in the ocean. "Ruby is an excellent strategist. If the monster fights the robot, there is bound to be damage to Argus. It will put innocents in harm's way." He nods approvingly to Ruby, who blushes slightly and starts mumbling brush-offs.

"This isn't our fight-"

"Every fight that puts innocents in danger is my fight, and I am sure that it is for a good amount of us!" Saint turns towards Ruby, who nods to him, then towards her friends.

Osiris scoffs. "Fine, we only have _one_ try at this. If it doesn't work, we are leaving, understood?"

"I can accept that," Saint rumbles. "Tell Lisbon to hurry up, we have to be in the airs soon."

The dull whine of a Sparrow engine hums in the distance. "_Lisbon here, we're close. ETA a couple of seconds._"

"Did you wreck the Sparrow?" Sagira quips.

"_No. It's safe._"

* * *

**I'm drafting up concepts of RWBY weapons enhanced with Destiny weapons, and giving exotics to certain characters. So far, I have:**

**Gambol Shroud + Devil's Ruin**

**Crescent Rose + Revoker and maybe give her Kill Clip**

**Yang + Dunemarchers**

**Magnhild + The Colony**

**Harriet + Synthoceps**

**Open to suggestions. These should prepare the RWBY characters for a vexing enemy.**

**Edit: Whew! Went through the last 12 chapters! Now onto actually writing! Also, I'm beginning the drafting of a more traditional crossover starring Felwinter only, starting around end of Season 2, mid-Season 3. If you want to help or suggest any ideas, don't be afraid to send a message (except for any pairing requests, that's up to me).**


	25. Entrance to Atlas

**I'm working on another crossover featuring Felwinter. More details on that to come when I draft up more ideas. So far, it's gonna start end of or mid-season 2.**

* * *

Lisbon swerves the Sparrow to the side, parking it in front of the smuggler's ship.

"What's the plan?" He asks, disembarking the Sparrow and approaching the cargo bay of the ship.

"We are going to stop the massive beast in the horizon, Hunter!" Saint says, cackling afterwards. "It's time to prove ourselves!"

Lisbon thinks about it for a second, squinting at the giant, Godzilla-esque creature approaching Argus from the sea. "Did we figure that out?"

Ruby steps up, her voice surprisingly commanding and firm. "We don't have much time before it breaks through the barriers. Jaune, Ren, you guys mask our ship so we don't get blown out of the sky." She pauses, watching the Leviathan's slow approach. It charges something in its mouth before unleashing a beam of fire that takes down an outer Hard Light barricade, forcing the poles that weave the protective fabric together to retract back into the water. "We have to go, now!"

"You heard her, let's move!" Saint yells as he swings his arm in the direction of the ship. "A born fireteam leader, I see!"

Ruby smiles and nods shortly at him before entering the ship. Once everyone is in, the cargo bay door closes and white lights come on. The entire group makes their way out of the cargo section and into an empty passenger hold. They all crowd around the windows, peeking out to see the situation unfolding outside.

"Alright ladies and gents! Suicide mission is a go, and after we book straight to Atlas, ye!?" The pilot yells, laughing maniacally afterwards. "I swear, this is the worst idea I've ever been a part of! Whatever, just, tell me where to fly!"

An Atlesian Manta ship gets taken down by a winged Grimm by latching on its wings and bringing it down in an explosion that rocks their ship.

"Ren, Jaune, you know what to do!" Ruby turns to the two aforementioned Huntsmen and gives them a small smile as they look to each other and nod in agreement. Ren descends to one knee and holds his palm against the floor. Jaune holds his partner's shoulder with an arm that shimmers white. "Pilot, you can go through the Grimm, they won't see us!"

"Ya bloody serious, eh!?" The surroundings turn grey, and the pilot looks at his now greyed-out palm, uttering a simple "oh" to himself. "Looks like they're all ignorin' us, we're goin in!"

Saint stands behind the pilot seat, observing silently before turning to Lisbon. "Lisbon, I trust you can keep the beast immobilized so Ruby can take it down?"

"I got a Tether ready, just let me know when to use it," the Hunter says. "We need to distract it so it doesn't focus on the barriers."

"_Unknown civilian airship in quadrant F-Six, you are to immediately evacuate and land at the nearest secure pad_," Cordovin's voice comes through a small handheld radio situated on the center of the pilot's controls. Her voice is controlled, level-headed and commanding, which is a stark contrast from the group's first encounter.

Osiris takes the radio and holds his thumb over the talk button. He waits for a moment, then glances at Ruby, before shaking his head. "Cordovin, it is good to hear from you again," he says, his tone contradicting the statement.

"_Wha-you again!?_" The Atlesian officer exclaims, all of a sudden enraged. "_What are you doing up there!?_"

"I suppose you do not need our assistance with the Grimm on rapid approach to Argus?" Osiris says. "We have a full fireteam of Huntsmen and Huntresses ready to assist."

"_NEGATIVE! You are to vacate the airspace IMMEDIATELY!_" Cordovin's shrill voice piercing through the static-filled speaker makes the Warlock wince.

Osiris sighs. "It appears we may have to advance without your approval. We are on approach of the Grimm." He flicks a switch that mutes whatever is coming from the other side and slots the radio back in its place. "Ruby, I hope you know what you're doing. Saint and I, we're more than capable of taking-"

"Which is why you two will be helping me. I did this at Beacon, and at the farm. I can do it again. Weiss, I need one of those ice wasps to carry me in front of the Leviathan." Ruby turns to the white-haired girl in the pale-blue dress, who readies her weapon.

"It's called a Lancer, but you got it, Ruby," Weiss says, spinning the wheel of Dust cartridges in her rapier. "Whenever you're ready."

"Osiris, I need you to-"

"I will weaken it," Osiris says promptly. He slides open a side-door and jumps out. Two wings made of fire appear on his back and he soars towards the Grimm.

"We're going to hit it before it gets to the next barrier!" Ruby says. The ship makes a fast approach to the Leviathan as it charges up another fire beam. The beast makes a sudden detour as what can only be seen as a little ball of flaming orange lobs arcs of fire to it. "Osiris, keep it up!"

"Understood," Osiris replies, sounding almost bored.

Weiss crouches and stabs her rapier into the floor, creating a white rune that spins underneath. An ice-blue wasp the size of a bear spawns just outside of the Manta.

"Alright luvs we're gettin' real close! Can your guy hold out any longer!?"

"He's doing fine, now," Ruby pushes up a strand of hair that's going over her eye, before smirking at her teammates. "I'll see you guys later." Without giving any time for them to respond, she hops out and rides the magical wasp that makes a straight line towards the Leviathan.

"Oh, I cannot just sit here and do nothing!" Saint exclaims, grumbling to himself. "Pilot, hold right here. Everyone else, ready your weapons!"

/

Osiris dashes to the right, evading the fire from the gigantic seaborn Grimm's mouth and returns with a few swipes of his Dawnblade. They all land on target, leaving black marks that dig into the Grimm's bone mask that covers the upper half of its head. He spots Ruby on approach, using a bright-white Lancer as her mode of transport.

"_**That's pretty cool,**_" Sagira notes. "_**You want to let her do her thing?**_"

Osiris hesitates. "_**This can go wrong in many ways,**_" he says. "_**A simple Nova Bomb would destroy it.**_"

"_**What if she manages to pull one off?**_" Sagira says. "_**Or something equivalent?**_"

"_**Then we may have another contender for 'Chosen One.'"**_ Osiris replies simply, readjusting his scarf over his nose. He locks eyes with the crimson-haired girl, who regards him with a determined stare, ready to prove him wrong. Perhaps she senses his doubt in her.

Perhaps it may be misplaced.

In the next few minutes Osiris would find out.

"_Osiris, you can let up. I can do this,_" Ruby says, that same determination he saw in her eyes showing itself in her voice.

"…I trust you have it under control," Osiris says, backing away from the Leviathan as it then focuses towards the source of a myriad of gunfire and explosions originating from the smuggler's ship. He flies back inside, transmats Monte Carlo into his hands, and assists them.

Something seems off. A feeling in the back of his mind is making him uneasy.

"The Relic," he mumbles. "Ruby, it will focus on you!"

He receives nothing but static. The girl is still standing on the Lancer, just staring at it while it rotates its massive pointy head towards her.

"Tether is out," Lisbon says as he sends out a purple arrow that stabs into the Leviathan's side, around its torso, and turns into a dark purple mass. "I don't know how long it'll hold, Ruby are you listening?"

Nothing.

"Ruby?" Osiris repeats.

"_**She threw her earpiece into the water,**_" Sagira says. "_**Let her focus.**_"

"Shit, RUBY!" Yang yells, in an attempt to reach out to her little sister. "It's turning to her!"

Osiris doesn't wait for anything else and is already in the airs, carrying a massive charge of Void in his hands, preparing it to destroy the Leviathan at the subatomic level. He makes good distance, covering the amount needed to be close enough to send the Nova Bomb.

In the middle of his flight, time seems to slow around him, before everything grinds to a halt. He stops mid-air, and looks around. Everything is still. He looks back to the ship. It's stationary, alongside everyone inside it, except for Saint. Yang has her arm reached out in Ruby's direction, while the little girl is staring down the snout of the Leviathan.

A sky-blue woman wrapped in gold chains is floating behind Ruby, a small smirk on their face.

"_**That must be Jinn,**_" Osiris mumbles.

"_**An Ahamkara inside a lamp, I wonder where that idea came from,**_" Sagira sneers. "_**We're going to kill that thing sometime, right?**_"

Osiris ignores the question, assuming that his Ghost already knows the answer.

"Ruby!" Osiris calls out, his voice echoing. Ruby makes a surprised sound and looks to him. "I hope you are going to use this moment to show me what you are capable of."

"Y-Yeah, I got it under control." Ruby takes a deep breath and closes her eyes.

Osiris peers at Jinn, who returns with a smug smirk.

_~My, my, Saint-Fourteen, now Osiris?~_

Time begins to restart while Jinn dissipates. A second later, there is a blinding white flash that overtakes what looks like everything, blinding Osiris for a moment before it all returns to normal.

/

She felt it. Someone called for the Light. It was a faint signal, but it was there. This wasn't the first time this someone called out to her.

Her connection to the new Light-bearer strains as a little Ghost tries to empower them with whatever Light she can send.

It takes a few moments, but she knows she succeeded.

The Ghost falters in her flight, garnering notice from a few students surrounding her. Cafeteria is quite crowded and most are too busy amongst themselves, but some notice the little prism flying in the air, minding its own business.

"Red, you alright?" A short girl, face weathered by battle scars asks, raising an eyebrow that's half burnt-off. "Something happen?"

"I'm fine," the Ghost says rapidly, turning away from the student.

"You sure?" The girl pries, which annoys the Ghost slightly.

"Yes, don't worry about me," the Ghost snaps. "And don't call me Red."

"Okay, I'm sorry."

/

The blinding flash subsides, leaving nothing unchanged except for Ruby. In that she's on fire and holding a golden revolver that flares with burning fury.

"A Golden Gun?" Saint whispers, lowering Bastion as he watches the small girl initially look confused at the new weapon before shaking her head and taking aim.

"How did she do that?" Yang asks, her hand faltering slightly.

Saint stays silent, observing Ruby steadying her aim as the Leviathan prepares to swipe its claws at her. It roars at her, making her cape blow backwards and almost making her falter. She doesn't wait much longer after to disintegrate the beast with a single payload of molten Light that pierces right through its massive skull and melts it away. There isn't so much as a roar from the beast as it is completely obliterated into ashes, a final fiery explosion topping it off as it disappears into the ocean's breeze.

"Whoa…" Jaune mutters. "Since when could she do that?"

"…Your answer is as good as mine," Saint says. "She is indeed special."

. . .

_On the way to Atlas…_

Ruby leans in between the cockpit seats, looking towards Qrow who returns with a small, somewhat impressed smirk.

"You did great out there, kid." Qrow chuckles once, bringing up his flask to his face. "What you did…reminded me a lot of your mother." He prepares to take a swig but stops just short, and lowers the flask. "Exact same heart attacks too, heh."

Ruby wraps her uncle in a tight hug. "I love you too." She returns to her team.

The crimson-haired fireteam leader regards her seated teammates, who converse amongst themselves, and she notices Yang placing a reassuring hand over Blake's own.

Saint, Osiris and Lisbon are nowhere to be seen, though. They must be in the cargo hold.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that nightmare," Weiss says, directing herself to Blake. "I'm glad Lisbon was there in time."

The mention of Lisbon makes Yang's mood shift. "About Lisbon, what was that about '_Guardian down?'" _She says, her expression slightly suspicious mixed with worry.

"I don't know," Blake says, looking to her knees. "I saw him get cut in half by Adam but he just…came back after, like nothing ever happened. He said he could 'rebuild himself.' Whatever that meant."

"Uh huh…did you notice anything, like, off, about him?" Yang asks, gently squeezing her prosthetic hand.

"No, it was weird-" Blake gets interrupted by a panel in the floor swinging out, and stopping just short of smacking her nose. Saint steps out and closes it underneath him. He takes a breath, then sighs.

"Unfortunately, I am to separate paths with you all," he says, disappointment in his voice but still understanding of whatever situation he's in. "Blake, I must ask you to step aside."

Blake stands up and moves away from the side door of the ship, relocating towards the backs of the pilot and copilot seats. Yang follows and sits beside the Faunus.

"Where are you going?" Blake asks.

"I am to deal with an outbreak in Mantle, and this is where I am to…enter." The hesitation at the last word makes it seem like Saint had to carefully select the word. "It is possible I will encounter you all, but I will promise that I will return after this situation has been dealt with."

"Hey, if you've never seen Atlas in person, then you don't wanna miss this," Qrow says, turning his head to address them all.

Team RWBY stands to look at the cockpit window while the rest use the side door glass. Saint only needs to turn, his height advantage allowing him to do so. The ship breaks through a cloud, revealing a floating island tethered by several thick ropes to the ground, populated by tall towers and buildings, all faintly glowing light-blue which accents the blue, green and yellow colors that flutter in the night sky that isn't too far above it. From this perspective, the island floats beside a shattered moon, dwarfing it in size.

Below, there is a city that expulses thick dark clouds of smoke and lit up by orange and yellow lights. It alarms Saint, reminding him of torched villages, engulfed by the bright flames started by sadistic fools of the Dark. He shakes his head of the thought and mutters near-silent promises to himself.

Weiss leans forward, using the pilot and copilot seats as stabilization. She's looking upwards, towards a massive fleet of twig-like ships in an organized ring, forming a barrier around the island.

"What the Hell…" Qrow mumbles.

"The Atlas air fleet…I knew all our ships were called back but…" Weiss cuts herself short, consumed by shock.

"They're set up like they're expecting an attack," Qrow says, somewhat alarmed.

"Manta callsign Bird-One…you are to dock in hangar ATL-Two. A squadron will be sent out to escort. If you deviate from flight path Victor-Two, you will be treated as hostile and fired upon." A controlled, female voice comes through the radio.

"Hey, it's just lil' ol' me! Calm down, eh bruv?"

The operator on the other side sighs in exasperation. "Gabriel, you need to cut your shit. I don't want to see anything come out from that ship of yours or else we will have problems."

"Alright, alright, not a problem!" The pilot lets go of the talk button and turns to Saint. "If you're leavin' get the fuck out _now._"

Saint nods and opens the side door, before jumping out. It takes a few moments for someone to come up to close it.

"Bird-One, we just detected a discharge, what did I just say!?"

"What? Discharge? You're jokin' mate." The pilot laughs, although it sounds more like a fake one than genuine. "Look, I'm on Victor-Two, aight? No problems on my end, check your systems or somethin'."

In what looked like a pop into existence, two Manta gunships are at the sides of the ship, with two more behind it.

Ruby's gut drops as they approach Atlas.

. . .

_Atlas Academy._

The introduction to Atlas authority isn't a soft one. Upon landing in a wide hangar bustling with activity, around two dozen soldiers were surrounding the ship, their weapons drawn and pointed at it. Their first order was for everyone to come out of the cargo bay door with their hands raised and palms clearly shown.

Osiris and Lisbon are surprisingly quick to turn themselves in, exiting first while being almost suspiciously cooperative with the soldiers who put them on their stomachs and tied their hands behind their backs. The rest of the team are subjected to the same treatment except for the pilot and Maria. The former is dragged away by an angry officer, yelling and screaming the entire way. The latter is handled much more gently considering her age and height, though she snaps at the soldiers handling her with snide comments which seem to make them think about reconsidering. Their weapons are all confiscated and taken away. Ruby tries to resist when they find the Relic, but it too gets relinquished for fear of getting her head smacked by the butt of an assault rifle.

"Several HVTs have been discovered on board," a soldier says into his earpiece. "Beacon students, a licensed Huntsman, Lima-Thirteen, and an unknown." He nods a few times. "Roger."

He looks towards his partners and flicks his palm upwards. The soldiers holding everyone down drag them all up to their feet and form them into a single line, before herding them towards a lift that's barricaded by metal railings. Around a half-dozen soldiers are left to guard them.

Lights pass-by as the lift doesn't stop for anything, taking them up a tower. There is a transition from dusty, dull warehouse grays into flat whites and an impeccably clean environment. They stop here, and are all shoved into a smaller elevator that has a window that provides a bird's-eye view of the kingdom of Atlas. Half of the remaining soldiers disperse, leaving only three to escort them.

Osiris whispers something to Lisbon, too low to hear the details of but loud enough for most people to pick up on. A soldier glares at him from under their mask and he quiet down.

The elevator stops.

"Lima-Thirteen, you are to follow me," a soldier says, turning towards Lisbon, who rolls his eyes.

Osiris slyly nods at Lisbon, who returns it. There is a positive ding as the elevator stops, and the doors slide open. The two remaining soldiers take the right of the hallway, while Lisbon and his personal one takes the left. They stop at an open, circular part of the hallway, with a roof lantern that lets in the faint moonlight from above.

"I swear if they send another councilman…" General Ironwood, in a fancy white coat, is talking to a person beside him with his back turned and walking to what seems like his office, judging from the flight of stairs that lead to a doorway in front of him.

"Sir," one soldier says. The general stops, and turns. His aide turns too, revealing herself as Winter Schnee, in her white, long sleeve coat that runs down to her ankles. She wears a collared undershirt underneath that has a navy-blue necktie that runs beneath a girdle.

Ironwood blinks a few times, before a smile forms on his face. Winter, however, is not as amused, instead showing quite scary amounts of sternness when looking at them.

Weiss steps in front of Ruby. "Winter," is the only thing she says. Winter Schnee's stern look is replaced by momentary surprise, before going back.

"You have ten seconds to take those off before I start hurting you," she says, her tone commanding and bluffing nowhere to be seen. The two soldiers glance at each other with confused looks on their faces before scrambling to undo the handcuffs. Once unlocked, the restraints collapse into metal balls that clink against the floor.

"Please, come in," Ironwood says, relaxed and almost casual.

/

"_**I'm picking up another Ghost in this place. Somewhere in the cafeteria, around the bottom levels of Atlas Academy,**_" Sagira says.

"_**Well done on downloading schematics,**_" Osiris compliments, craning his head side-to-side to take in General Ironwood's grand office, with some sort of hard, smooth flooring, round pillars at the walls with bookshelves in between, leading up to some small steps that host his desk and behind it, a rounded glass wall that gives a bird's eye view of Atlas. There are no imperfections to be seen, everything is in its perfectly thought out place_._

"It is so good to see all of you," Ironwood says, standing beside the group as they all walk further in, led by Winter Schnee.

"Our reception didn't convey that…" Yang mumbles, loud enough for everyone to hear.

Ironwood sighs, and softly shakes his head. "I sincerely regret the treatment you have all received by my soldiers." He pauses. "A rogue airship entering our airspace with an immediate discharge of an unknown mass upon the mention of discharges, coming from a pilot that is…less than reputable. It's without a doubt that it…raises quite a bit of alarms. We assumed it was an illegally launched ship."

Osiris snorts. "A reasonable deduction," he says, crossing his arms.

"I believe we haven't been introduced, yet," Ironwood points himself towards Osiris, regarding him with a small smile.

"Osiris," the Warlock says, returning the general's observant gaze with a passive, unrevealing one. "It was my plan."

"_**Hey!**_"

Ironwood chuckles. "Quite a gambit. I suppose it worked in the end, considering you are all standing in front of me."

Winter Schnee, on the other hand is not having this at all. "You took them with a smuggler!? How unbelievably irresponsible of you to do such a-" The white-haired authority figure starts stepping towards Osiris, obviously not happy with him.

Weiss is quick to wrap the woman in a hug, which catches her off guard, and her hands suspend themselves in the air for a moment as she figures out how to proceed. "I'm sorry that we worried you, but we did what we had to do."

Winter takes a sharp breath, before returning the hug. "I…" she's caught at a loss for words. "I suppose I understand." She sighs. Her attention turns towards Qrow, afterwards.

"But I cannot believe that you allowed this to happen, Qrow." She glares at him.

"You try stopping these kids and this guy when their minds are set on something." Qrow points his thumb at Ruby and chuckles afterwards. "Speaking of which…" He turns towards the general. "We have some important information for you that's…confidential."

Osiris slinks to the back of the crowd.

"I can assume it's about the Relics," Ironwood says, and turns his head to his aide, who is now standing beside him.

"Or the Winter Maiden?" Winter says, her hands locked behind her back.

Qrow's hands leave his pockets. "You told her?"

"There is another one who is aware, but has some…personal issues that she's currently dealing with right now." Ironwood chuckles. "Miss Rose, I am sure you know her, since she speaks quite a bit about you, not with me, but to her other…friends." His hand moves under his desk, and a drawer slides open. He pulls out the Relic and gently places it down.

"…I don't follow," Ruby says meekly.

"Penny?"

"Penny!? I thought she-"

"Yes, she did, but we were able to recover her from Amity Arena and rebuild her, this time even better while maintaining her original personality and memories. She would be quite pleased to see you." Ironwood smiles. "But back on topic. With Ozpin gone, I needed my own team of people I could trust, so yes, I told them. And my Ace-Ops too, which you will meet soon."

/

_Deep in Mantle. The Red Lands._

Saint-14 keeps his landing modest but still heavy, loud enough for anyone, or anything, nearby to hear. He raises Bastion and scans the road in front of him, then the sides, before covering the back. Once confirming it's all clear, he lowers his weapon and looks up at a red, glowing SIVA vein that pierces through a window, into an apartment building and then growing up, breaking through the roof. Most of the buildings in the area are victims of this uncontrolled growth.

He takes a deep breath, and exhales. He takes out his Scroll and tries to interact with it, only to find that it's scrambled, unable to react to any of his commands. He grumbles before stashing it away.

Saint begins to walk down the wide road, enough to fit two trucks side-by-side. He's slow, methodical, in order to allow himself to scan every window and little corner carefully, so he doesn't have any surprises. Street poles and the like are mostly toppled over, unrooted and their electronics occasionally blinking erratically. All is quiet, except for the occasional pulse from the SIVA veins or wind blowing small debris around him. He keeps his eyes peeled for any potential threat, but his gun is pointed downwards.

The city is dark, most of the streetlights having been knocked out. The only sources of illumination are burning trash bins that are roaring strong, which must mean they have been lit recently. Saint walks a block or so forward, watching for anything that could attack him.

A scuffling somewhere above him, around a rooftop to his right. He snaps his head in that direction and scans the roofs for anyone that might be up there. Nothing. He stops, and readies his voice.

If these damned cowards think he isn't aware of them, he will prove them wrong.

Before he begins to yell, a mass the size of a ball that fits in his palm lands on the floor in front of him. It doesn't clink hard, and looks like it fell instead of being thrown. It bounces a few times before coming to a stop a few feet away from him.

Saint crouches down to pick it up, and feels it around to find out it's some sort of container. He pops it open, splitting the ball in two, revealing a crumpled piece of cloth inside. He takes it out, unfolds it and reads the hastily inked inscriptions.

_UNSAFE RUN_

_CONSUMES CONSUMES CONSUMES_

_GROWS GROWS GROWS_

_enhanced_

_ATLAS ARE LIARS_

_WATTS IS A FRAUD_

_ENLIGHTEN_

Saint furrows his brows at the text, before he crumples it back and shoves it into its ball before tucking it away.

Scurrying to his sides. He readies Bastion and his finger waits to charge it up.

* * *

**Jeez. It's been an entire month and a week. Sorry for the delays, a lot of stuff to catch up to for me.**


	26. Mantle

**To ksgrip: Read your review, and I would like to address a few points you make here.**

**I completely agree with the main cast having to share "screen time," which is why I opted to split Saint and Lisbon from the main group so they can progress their own storylines, which will intersect at some point in time. RWBY as a show is extremely cluttered with how many characters there are in the game, and it becomes hard to write around that. This should result in a lot less POV changes, limiting it to a max of 3 per chapter but the average should be around 2.**

**Second point about supers. In lore, Guardians can use their Supers at whatever point in time they feel like, (depending on the strength of the Guardian, of course) and since we're dealing with two of the most powerful Guardians in the universe, that's what I bet on. In retrospective, I notice that there is some significant power-creep going on here, so I'll reel it back a bit with some in-story explanation.**

**I still disagree with your take on what a crossover should be, but maybe you're just not into AUs, which is completely fine. My new story in the works will be more traditional and will probably be more of what you're looking for.**

* * *

_Mantle._

Saint snaps his body to the side, Bastion raised and the sights trained on whatever made that sound.

"H-help…" A man, half-consumed by SIVA is hobbling towards him. His light-grey armor plating is chipped, cracking in jagged gaps that are filled by a glowing red that glows brightly in the dark, like the leer of a predator. A full-face respirator, shattered at the glass visor, hangs off his neck, revealing a deathly pale person with a stare that is begging for release. Little nanites buzz and fly around different parts of their body, burrowing, digging into his skin and flesh. The man's hobbles progressively grow less stable with every step, and he fall over at Saint's feet.

"What did this to you…?" Saint steps back, to prevent himself from risking infection. "How…how did it get this bad?" He lowers Bastion and sighs. "I'm sorry…there's nothing I can do for you." He lowers his head in respect for what looks like this victim's final moments.

This was the first time he had seen a SIVA infection grow this bad. Watching someone be consumed and eventually taken over by an unfeeling, ruthless machine makes his stomach churn. He had heard the tales from Saladin and they seem to corroborate what is in front of him right now. A part of him hoped that the person inside the corruption was still present, that it was still possible to free them, give them another chance at life.

That fleeting feeling is now gone, this felt like a fate worse than death, worse than being skinned and eaten alive by Fallen Dregs.

A tremor runs down Saint's body, chilling it in a way he hasn't felt in quite a while. This is reminding him of Mercury; the failed expedition. He shakes his head and steps back. He will put a stop to this, it isn't a matter of if. A city like Mantle could house hundreds of thousands of people, maybe millions, possibly from centuries worth of development. He won't let it be stopped.

Saint snaps his head up as he picks up on the whir of a Wire Rifle charging up. He locks in on the source of the noise, that being a little white-blue dot on the rooftop in front of him, a few feet to the side. He leans his body back, avoiding the projectile before raising Bastion at his aggressor.

"Damnit, too far…" Saint mutters, before being struck on the back of his left shoulder by another Wire Rifle. He staggers forward, before turning around to see an entire row of white-blue dots with two red eyes on top all staring at him.

There are too many of them considering his current position. He has no chance right now, which means he has to get close and very, _very,_ personal. He conjures an Arc grenade that would detonate and erupt into a bright flash, which should buy him some time to take cover inside a building.

Saint barrels towards the building in front of him, the entrance being a wide dark hole with a barricade of trash about as tall as the wheels of a truck in front of him. He throws the grenade high into the air, far enough so that it would be the first thing anyone on the roofs would see. His hands grab at a loose car door acting as part of a barricade and pull it outwards, displacing it from its entrenched spot before discarding it to the side. Saint enters the building using his new entrance before sliding behind cover, catching a moment to breathe and think about his next moves.

The interior is pitch black, semi-periodically dimly lit by what seems like a small flashlight pointed towards the entrance. The glow of Saint's helm can only go so far, so he ignites a Hammer of Sol, unpowered but able to act as a torch.

This building seems to have been some sort of restaurant, judging from the number of circular tables knocked over and a counter with various fridges and cooking material behind it. There is a helmet on the counter, with a flashlight on the side of the forehead that is indeed flickering in and out of life. Despite it being unmoving, it feels like it's watching Saint. While he gently steps through all the trash littered on the ground, he imagines what could have happened in this kind of place, as a day-to-day business. He thinks of a quaint little shop, where the owner is shuffling back and forth between the counter and all the machines, producing a variety of baked goods that go in a rack that's displayed proudly beside the counter. He thinks of the people that would frequent this type of place, all worrying about their own facets of life while they wait for a baked good or a hot drink.

Mantle doesn't seem to be the type of city that worries about raiders that skirt around their borders, searching for an opening to attack and pillage. The people here don't seem like the type of people that sleep on the walls of their houses, rifles in hand and always ready for any threat that could come at their doorstep.

Saint imagines Mantle like the Last City that The Guardian showed him but…dimmer, somehow. The thought of children playing in the street didn't cross his mind, but at the same time they wouldn't be cowering in their homes, underneath the tight grips of their parents. This city seemed to have a sort of shadow of resentment cast over it, jealous of…something. It isn't an environment he's familiar with, and he can't pinpoint what was causing this jealousy.

Saint shakes his head, clearing his mind and returning himself to the present. He would have to see the inhabited parts of Mantle to pass judgement. Maybe the island floating above, too, if he ever gets the chance.

For now, he has to deal with some fools carrying Wire Rifles.

His glowing hammer raised to the top left of his vision, he stalks his way through the ruined café. He finds a set of concrete stairs that seem to lead to the top and takes it. All is quiet, there being seemingly no activity for his ears to pick up on, except for a faint scraping sound far away.

Somewhere on the ascent, Saint encounters a body slumped against a wall, a rifle resting on their legs and their helmet also flickering in and out of life. The Titan kneels down, and uses his free hand to lift the corpse's head, so it would be facing him. Again, a shattered respirator with mauling that disfigures this former person's face, making their descriptions unidentifiable. SIVA hadn't gone lightly on this poor soul. Saint lets the head sag before leaving them be. He exhales through his nose, before continuing up.

The rest of the trip up the stairs goes quietly, and there's only a closed door in front of him.

What he doesn't expect is the door to slide open for him while a person in light armor plating holds their index perpendicular to their lips while cocking his head into the room. They remove their finger from their mouth and point to the roof.

"They'll hear you," she whispers. "Get in, and don't make anymore noise than you did coming up."

Saint nods and steps in, turning to watch the woman slide the door shut behind him.

"You're a sight for sore eyes," the woman says, her voice still hushed. "There are dozens of those snipers on the rooftops, and they're crack shots. Took out my entire squad on the street."

"What are you doing here?" Saint whispers back, kneeling down underneath a window.

"Look, if you can help me get rid of these bastards, we can talk afterwards. You look like a Huntsman, can you fight?" The woman asks. Saint nods.

"Of course, I wouldn't be Saint-Fourteen if I couldn't fight." He unveils Bastion to her, and nods. "I can distract the ones from across while I deal with the ones above us. It would be of good help if you can deal with them."

The soldier nods, before taking a silver scoped rifle that was leaning against a wall. It looks oddly familiar.

She takes up a position at a boarded-up window. She points to another door in the apartment that has the words written in bold and bright yellow:

_ROOFTOP ACCESS_

_AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY_

"If you hear fighting above, start shooting," Saint says, pushing the access door open and then giving one last glance to the woman.

"Roger," she says, loading a magazine into her weapon. "Good luck."

Saint closes the door behind him before rushing up another flight of stairs and charging into the last obstacle that's stopping him from pummeling these SIVA machines to pieces. Something is immediately thrown to the side as the door pushes them off of the building and to the floor below.

Bastion raised, Saint steps out and he locks onto a Fallen Vandal, infected by SIVA. The Eliksni charges its Wire Rifle but he does the same with his own fusion rifle, hearing three clicks before a volley of three slugs tear the dead being into shreds. Another tries swinging at him with the butt of its rifle from the left, but he blocks the attack with the armor on his forearm, holding firm before colliding his head into its chest, piercing a hole into the mix of metal and flesh that lets out a ghastly hiss as the amalgamation of Fallen and SIVA goes limp.

The dart of a Wire Rifle strikes Saint's back, followed by around three more that force him into cover. He charges Bastion once more as a duo of a Fallen Dreg and a Marauder rush at him with their puny blades out. His foot digs into the rooftop.

Three clicks. Three volleys. One Dreg dead and a Marauder severely maimed. The one still moving tries to crawl away, screeching in its language. There isn't the typical desperation Saint would hear from a surrendering Eliksni, but more of a plea for release that betrays its actions, which the Titan was more than happy to fulfill. He pulls the Marauder back by the remaining leg it has and slides its head underneath his boot before crunching the two together against concrete.

The crack of a light-sounding and rapid-firing rifle from underneath reassures Saint he has his back covered. He turns to see the snipers on the opposite rooftops dropping like flies before they're all gone.

"You are a fantastic shot!" Saint bellows as he shoulders Bastion and dusts his hands.

"Good work up there, I think we're clear!"

. . .

The woman sighs as she leans on a wooden table, displaying a holographic 3D map of this particular district of Mantle. She shakes her head and wipes her face.

"You can call me Ari. I'm a soldier in the Atlas military," she says, her expression deadpan. She removes her helmet and places it on a shelf, angling it so the visor is looking at Saint. Her dark skin nearly blends in with the shadow behind her and her hair is nowhere to be seen. Her face is well-built, with an ever-present look of vigilance.

"My name is Saint-Fourteen…" Saint says, squinting at the map of Mantle.

"Yeah, I know who you are. The story of what you did to the Ace-Ops has spread like a wildfire and you're a literal urban myth around these parts."

Saint chuckles but hums in confusion. "Ace-Ops?"

"Story goes that you managed to handle two of them at once, beating down the fast one while you kept the other at bay with grenades that could suppress Auras." The description seems to recall to his encounter on Kuo Kuana against those two fighters that were overseeing the Vex component shipments. Harriet and Marrow, he recalled were their names. "Some people are saying that you would have sent them with their tails tucked behind their legs if you weren't stopped by someone else."

"Ah…I remember clearly. 'Atlas,' correct?" Saint asks, tilting his head.

"That's it." Ari takes a breath before using her fingers to zoom in on a large complex with a giant crater at the center of what looks like to be the main building. "My squad were sent in this area as a strike force to have a go at the heart of this threat, with some other small objectives on the side." She swipes over to some other, less important-looking markers littered about Mantle.

One in particular, labelled: _INVESTIGATE POTENTIAL PRESENCE OF HAPPY HUNTRESSES AND ROBYN HILL_ piques Saint's interest.

"Anyways, we have free reign over this area, until…well, until an ambush wiped out my entire fireteam and put my days to a limit." Ari smiles half-heartedly, a look of resignation on her face. "I don't know if anyone is listening to this, most likely not since all of our comms were jammed the moment we entered into Red Land, but if I had the chance to reconsider, I would have backed the fuck away from this shitshow of an operation." She chuckles. "Fuck this place. I'll be gone in a few weeks and no one will know I ever existed, nor will they know what shit goes on here."

"I promise I will make your sacrifice worthwhile," Saint mutters. "How long have you been here?"

"About a week, maybe two. I can't tell the time in this place," Ari replies dryly. "I probably have maybe another before these little things turn me into a zombie."

"I _won't_ let that happen," Saint says, his resolve steeling for another battle. "I will be heading for the Replication Chamber."

/

_Atlas._

An intelligence officer, high-ranked in the Atlas military and a direct reporter to the General himself, gulps and readjusts his tie. The hand holding his tablet is clenched tight on the device, and if the man had the strength from his field days, he would have snapped the thing in two. His other hand is trembling.

The General won't like the news that just came from the leader of Fireteam Ember, who were considered KIA a week ago after they set foot in The Red Lands. It was a fringe transmission, a video that seems to be spliced together from an assortment of headcams that were still active, but their users most likely dead.

The officer clears his throat as he steps into the General's office. "Sir," he says, his expression stiff and worried.

"Officer Xiao, you said this was urgent. Urgent enough to report to me, instead of Winter?" The General is a mix of majority perplexed, and minorly annoyed as he sits at his marble desk, his elbows on top and his hands locked together in front of his face. "Well, don't keep me waiting."

"We have received confirmation of Saint-Fourteen's presence in The Red Lands," the officer says, keeping himself as level as possible. "He is heading for the Replication Chamber at Ground Zero."

General Ironwood's expression immediately shifts. "And you're absolutely certain that this intel is correct?"

The officer nods shortly. "We have received a transmission originating from Ember-One's headcam. It's a video of Saint-Fourteen himself. Our analysts weren't able to find any proof of doctoring. He is here, sir."

"Damn," Ironwood swears. "He is more mobile than we thought. You can leave, I'll deal with the problem myself."

/

"Penny, you're looking as…normal, as ever," Lisbon says, rotating his wrists inside his handcuffs before stretching his palms to the sides, revealing them to the very disappointed looking orange-haired girl sitting in front of him.

"Lisbon." Penny frowns and glares at him. "You ran away."

"Like I said I would," Lisbon says. Penny looks hurt at his statement. "What, you knew about my plan from the very beginning. You could have stopped me."

"I didn't want to stop you." The frown turns into a scowl.

"So why are you mad at me?" Lisbon snorts. "I gave you every opportunity to keep me in Atlas."

"Because it isn't right to deny a person his need for freedom," Penny says. "Even if it means running away from their friends." She stands up, and crosses her arms, waiting for an answer. It seems she's preparing for an excuse. "And now you're back."

"Look, I know what I did hurt you-"

"So why did you do it?" The robot-girl snaps, a rarely seen flare of anger showing in her eyes.

"There are things that are more important than friends, Penny. I wanted out of Atlas the moment I crashed. Bring your issues to Ironwood, not me," Lisbon hisses, his own attitude turning sour.

"If you hadn't left the way you did, we could have negotiated a better deal for you!" Penny exclaims, her hands placing themselves on the tabletop. "People are hurt because of you! And not all of them physically!"

Lisbon clenches his eyes shut and hits the table with his binds. The statement stings at him, but it's true.

"What do you want me to say, sorry?" Lisbon nearly spits. "I'll say it right now if you want me to."

"I want you to tell me why you would run away like that."

"Penny, Penny, just hold on-"

"Answer the question, Lisbon."

"I…" Lisbon bites his metal lip. "Like I said, some things are more important than friends."

"Is that so?"

Lisbon nods, and artificial tears begin to form. "Last time I had a friendship like this, I killed them." He seethes. "There, is that what you wanted to hear? That's why."

"Lisbon I-"

"Shut up, and get out of my sight," Lisbon barks, leaning his body forward and glaring with an uncountable amount of bottled up rage flowing through him.

Penny looks down and averts his gaze. "O-Okay…"

In a second, she's gone. The minute after, Lisbon smashes his face into the table.

The Dark beckons to him.


	27. Ghost

**Each chapter will focus on max 3 characters at a time, and will alternate between themselves. So for example, last chapter was about Saint and Lisbon, this chapter will be about Ruby and Osiris, and next chapter will be about Saint and Lisbon, and so on and so forth.**

* * *

_Atlas Academy._

General Ironwood reaches over to a glowing panel on his marble desk and taps a button. Blinds begin to unfold over the windows, blocking all external light and darkening the entire office.

A circle inside the floor starts to twist and lift upwards. Ruby steps away as she finds out she is standing on it. Everyone crowds around the newly formed table. Ironwood makes his way down to it, too.

"Ozpin believed that the best way to fight Salem was to do so in secret. Whether that was the right choice or not isn't for me to say," Ironwood says. "But we find ourselves in a position of needing, well, a new approach." He tilts his head to the side and raises an eyebrow at the last part of his sentence.

"And what do you suggest?" Qrow asks. Ironwood holds a palm-sized remote and presses a button on it, turning on a holographic recreation of the Amity Arena.

The main entrance opens behind them all.

"Apologies, for being late, sir!" Penny's high-pitched and innocent-sounding voice resonates throughout the office. Ruby gasps and turns around to regard her previously-thought destroyed friend. Penny takes a sharp breath too upon laying eyes on Ruby, before a wide grin forms on her face. "Ruby!"

"Penny!" Ruby manages to squeeze out amidst her shock. "I thought…"

"What, you didn't believe me?" Ironwood chuckles, the edge of his lips curling upwards.

"Sorry for disturbing, too, go on, sir!" Penny speeds her away beside Ruby, looking like she's almost ready to start bouncing off the walls in joy.

"When Beacon fell and everyone on Remnant lost contact with one another, I knew our current system was outdated. Amity was built to bring the nations together, and it _will_ serve that purpose once again." Ironwood presses another button, and an antenna materializes on top of the Amity Arena.

Everyone is caught in surprise, some looking at each other in skepticism. Ruby glances at Osiris, who doesn't seem to buy into it a single bit.

"Isn't it great? We're not going to just replace Beacon Tower. Building another tower on top of Amity Colosseum will re-establish global communications!" Penny, on the other hand, seems very enthusiastic about it. Osiris shoots the girl a suspicious look, before shaking his head and looking back at the holograph.

"Through cooperation with the Computerized Intelligence inside and by launching the tower high into the atmosphere, our scientists believe we can create a sort of…satellite out of reach of the Grimm capable of maintaining global communications even if we were to lose another tower," Winter Schnee finishes.

Osiris mutters something and Ruby so desperately wants to ask him what, but she keeps her silence. So far, the plan is looking quite good, in her opinion.

"That _is_ great," she says, wonder crossing her face.

"James…you don't need the entire military for this," Qrow points out.

"I will for the next part, where I finally tell the people about Salem." Ironwood's tone darkens. He speaks with a sort of heaviness to his words.

"Huh, so that's why you withdrew your troops, to handle the panic that would break out in Atlas," Qrow states, matter-of-factly.

"Yes, panic is inevitable, and panic brings Grimm. But I believe we are ready. Once Atlas has come to grips with the fight ahead, I'll use Amity Tower to spread the message to _all_ of Remnant."

"I suppose you have a plan to deal with the onslaught of Grimm that would no doubt come?" Osiris asks.

"We have several security measures rolling out in both Mantle and Atlas that will ensure the safety of our citizens," Winter says.

Osiris pauses for a moment, before humming in agreement and shrugging.

"Trying to hide the truth from the world will eventually kill us all," Ironwood says. He presses the button on his remote, which turns off the projection and pulls away the shutters, allowing the night-time light in. He begins to head back to his desk.

"Oz spent his whole life, _many lives, _keeping this secret," Qrow says, also somewhat skeptical.

"I know, but since Beacon, things have changed. Without him here to guide us, all I can do is use my best judgement."

Ruby looks at Oscar, who shifts uncomfortably, one hand starts to scratch at his other arm. Ironwood seems to sense the subtle movement and stops to turn back.

"What is it?" Ironwood asks, concern present.

"Actually, Oz isn't completely gone," Oscar says, meekly and nervous.

Qrow steps in. "Uh, Oscar here is…is the next Ozpin."

Ironwood's face lights up. His eyes widen slightly and a smile starts to form. "Oz?" He speedwalks his way to Oscar. "I'm so glad you're here I didn't think-" He kneels in front of the boy.

Oscar puts his palms up. "Not quite, he's kind of, um, _gone_…at the moment"

The smile on Ironwood fades, and he lowers his head.

"That's not normal," he says. He looks back up. "How did he-"

"We don't know," Ruby says, as cool as she can. She can feel the surprised stares from everyone except Ironwood's personnel on her. "We were in a train crash, and ever since, well…suddenly, Oz wasn't there anymore."

Ironwood sighs. "That's the worst news yet," he says as he rises to his feet. He looks to Ruby. "Did you learn anything from him about the Relics before?"

Ruby's answer is prompt, and quite quick. "He told us the lamp can answer three question, but all the questions were used up already," she says, maintaining a steady voice.

"Right, right," Ironwood mumbles as he turns around and walks behind his desk, staring out the window. "Ozpin told us that too, once upon a time." He turns to face everyone. "At least we have you, Oscar. You're safe here in Atlas, maybe together we can figure out how to bring Ozpin back." His expression is still hopeful.

Ruby's blows out a breath of relief in her mind. She's glad he's still optimistic.

Ironwood picks up the Relic in one hand, his other practically glued behind his back, and walks to Ruby before offering it to her.

"You're giving it back to me?" Ruby asks, surprised.

"After what happened at the hangar, I don't want you to think I'm keeping anything from you, especially something as important this." Ironwood hands it over. "For the time being, I think it's safest with the people who brought it here."

"Um, thank you," Ruby says. She shrinks the Relic and hooks it onto her belt, exchanging a look with Oscar.

"We must work together if we're to fight Salem and win. Now, if you're all on board…"

Ruby thinks for a few seconds, then looks at Ironwood. A determined expression forms on her face. "Tell us how we can help."

Ironwood smiles. "Good, because getting the Amity Tower ready to launch won't be easy." He walks back to his desk. "First, I think we need to get those weapons of yours up to our standards." He projects a display of Blake's broken Gambol Shroud, in which she seems to react with some embarrassment, indicated by her flushed mumbling.

Penny and Winter stand at Ironwood's sides.

"Remember, this is Atlas. While assisting the military, we will provide you with the best equipment our scientists can devise."

Ruby grins while Yang pumps her fist in the air, exclaiming "Yeah!"

. . .

The group, minus-Osiris and lead by Ruby, leave Ironwood's office, all of them unsure on where to go due to the lack of a guide. Midway down the steps, a voice begins to pick up ahead, in the circular empty area that seemed to serve as an intersection for the rest of the floor.

"So that was the second time I got banned—now the third time-" A man's eager, flaunting and loud voice comes from that section.

"Alright cut the chatter," another, more controlled and deeper voice cuts him off.

In front of them is a group of five, Atlas-uniformed Huntsmen and Huntresses that detach from their little get-together to greet them.

A man, a few inches taller than Qrow, and sporting a sleeveless Atlas uniform with short brown hair save for the front which is pulled back to make a sort of triangle pointed towards the forehead. "I'd like to formally welcome you all to Atlas and apologize on behalf of the unit for their rough treatment, if we had known we would have come down."

"Oh no, it's fine but…" Ruby begins to raise a finger.

The man chuckles. "Right, we're the Ace-Ops Ironwood most likely mentioned. We're looking forward to working with you all. My name is Clover."

"Not that I'm-" A dark-skinned man, about the same height as Clover tries to speak but cuts himself short upon looking down at his wagging tail. He reaches back and grabs it, earning a suppressed snort from the smaller, brown woman on the right.

Penny slides in front of Ruby and throws her hands up in excitement.

"C'mon! Let me show you around campus!" She begins to enthusiastically march away.

Ruby glances behind her to see her uncle turn around to Ironwood while Osiris moves past the both of them, going silently and swiftly, like he's trying to avoid everyone in the room. She wonders what he could be up to before being pulled away by Yang.

. . .

"Oh, and over there are the classrooms!" Penny brings the entire group through a painstakingly quiet and _slow_ tour of Atlas Academy.

Ruby lost count of how many facilities there were in the place, and around an hour into the entire thing she's ready to keel over and fall asleep, bed be damned. She stretches, and yawns loudly, hoping Penny would get the hint. Everyone comes to a stop, all looking exhausted in their own unique way, with Nora already passed out leaning on Ren.

"This all looks great, Penny. But where are we staying?" Ruby asks, exasperated and wanting this all to be over with. "I swear we passed by the…"

"Remember, you're in Atlas now. As the most well-funded school on Remnant, every team at Atlas Academy gets their own room! And if that wasn't enough-"

"They're called dorms, Penny. Dorms, use less words next time," a snarky, but somehow blank female voice comes in from _just beside Ruby's ear._ The girl screams and launches herself away from the sudden voice and nearly hitting her face on the wall. "Your cloak is really cozy, by the way."

With everyone now awake, they are all staring at the floating, glossy-white and crimson-striped prism with many, many facets and a single crimson-colored eye, that is looking at them like they're all crazy. The only exception seems to be Penny, who maintains her cheerful attitude.

"Oh, don't mind me. I don't have a problem with any of you except her," the drone snaps towards Ruby.

"What!? What did I do!?"

"Oh, you damn well know my problem!" A tense pause. Even Penny's smile disappeared into an expression of abject horror.

"Crimson, that is no way to treat a guest!"

"But it is a way to treat _MY GUARDIAN!_" The prism snaps.

"What!?" Ruby exclaims. "What are you talking about!? You mean Osiris or S…Lisbon!?"

The mention of Lisbon seems to not bode well with Penny, who tenses a bit.

"I mean _you_, little girl!" Crimson scoffs. "You're just as dense!"

/

Osiris waits to be the last one of his party to exit. The general is about to also, but stops upon noticing Osiris still standing at the exact same spot he was when the meeting was underway.

"Is there something you need to ask?" Ironwood asks, an eyebrow raised and his head turned.

"It's about the Amity Tower…more importantly, about this 'Computerized Intelligence' that will help us to launch the satellite," Osiris turns to regard the well-worn general.

"I'm afraid that's still confidential, but if you come back to me in a-"

"The Undying Mind is not to be trusted," Osiris cuts him off. Ironwood fully turns his body and shuts the door. "I know about it all."

Tension begins to rise. Ironwood is now sizing the Warlock up.

"How do you know of it?" He asks, his voice stiff, suspicious and definitely looking for a reason to escalate.

"In another timeline, where there are thousands of warriors known as 'Guardians' or 'Risen' or as the legends of this world seem to call them: 'Light-bearers.'" Osiris steps to the side so he can fully be in front of Ironwood.

"Light-bearers…Light-bearers…Ozpin mentioned something like that few times before," Ironwood says, rubbing his chin and exhaling silently through his nose. "I will give you the benefit of the doubt. What do you know of the Undying project?"

"I know of its origins, and its kind, the Vex," Osiris says, warning imbued in his expression. "It seeks to invade this world, and if I am understanding things correctly, you are all playing into its hands by powering this project."

"And what do you suggest we do? The Mind is essential to our plan, we can't just-"

"I am aware that you do not trust me, but what I am saying is the simple truth. If it isn't destroyed, it would be a race to extinction for all of humanity on Remnant. Heed this warning," Osiris turns away from the general.

Ironwood remains silent. "Give me a few days to think about it, I will see what my scientists have to say. For now, this discussion is _over_ and it hasn't left this room, understood?"

Osiris pauses, and thinks for a moment. "I understand."

"Now leave my office."

. . .

Osiris finds a secluded spot with the help of Sagira's directions while she laid invisible inside Ironwood's office, recording whatever the general had to say. He looks around to make sure nobody is around.

"Lisbon, maintain your current position and don't raise any suspicions that you will attempt an escape," he says, his voice a mutter slightly louder than a whisper.

"Roger—ah shit, I have a visitor. I'll have to cut comms-Penny, you're looking as normal as ever..."

Osiris nods before shutting the channel.

/

"So, like, you don't know what I do? Like, at all?" Crimson asks.

Ruby squints at the floating prism, who is staring back at her with quite possibly the most annoyed-looking single eye she has ever seen. It rolls.

"Well, I assist Guardians by providing tactical support, healing, guidance, unfettered access to every electronic system known to man, among others. Did your mom not talk to you about me at all!?" Crimson tilts herself.

"Mom left when I was a kid," Ruby says, dryly.

An awkward pause. Crimson looks at the room, seemingly analyzing everyone's faces before returning to Ruby.

"Oh…I…I didn't know, um…" Crimson mumbles, her eye flickering to the floor.

"It's fine, I'm tired. We'll talk tomorrow."

"Wait, before you get ready for bed, I just need to do one more thing."

"Uh-" Ruby is interrupted as Crimson begins blasting these rays of bright blue light at her, eventually covering her entire body before a flash and then nothing. "What did you do?"

"Now we're linked, so I can do my job as a Ghost." Crimson disappears. "_**Testing, testing, you hear me? I'm still here, just unseeable.**_"

Ruby wants to scream, start shrieking at her teammates at the recent development, but something about this feel so…_normal_, like it was completely fine that a floating drone can talk in her mind. Her head snaps to Yang, who's eyes are wide, then to Blake, who's occupied with something else and then to Weiss, who's about ready to sleep.

"Guys…she's in my mind," Ruby pushes out amidst her shock. "_**Can you hear me?**_"

"_**Ah perfect, that's working, you didn't go brain-dead! One in two chance of that, glad we're on the right half!**_"

"Sorry, what? You're saying I could have die-"

"No, no! It was a joke, jeez! Don't have to scare everyone like that!" Crimson says, a nervous edge present as she glances over to Yang who has an eyebrow raised and her eyes turning orange. "Alright, I'm sorry for scaring you, damn."

"You have to work on your jokes, Crims. Can I call you that?"

"Your mother would have laughed at it! And yes, you can call me that. Only one that can call me that."

"Whatever, I'm going to bed."

. . .

_The next day…_

Ruby had been called up on a high-priority briefing. Just her, as far she knew. She slips through a crack in the door of Ironwood's office, trying to make her profile as small as possible. Did she do something bad? She hopes not.

"Close the door behind you," Ironwood calls out from behind the circular table that raised from the ground yesterday.

Ruby turns around and shuts it with a soft click, darkening the room. The only sources of light are dim sky-blue lights and a red holographic projection of what looks like Mantle. Ironwood is standing behind it.

Harriet and that other, dark-haired wolf-Faunus Ace-Op is standing beside it, regarding her with short nods as she places herself in front. She looks down to the map. There are several markers labelled in small font that Ruby can't really distinguish from the fuzziness of the display.

"An unexpected variable came to my attention yesterday," Ironwood begins, before swiping in the air and then displaying a picture of Saint-14 himself. "An extremely dangerous criminal, calling himself Saint-Fourteen has appeared in a quarantined section of Mantle."

Ruby holds her desire to object, deciding to ask about another thing that's bothering her. "Quarantine? What's happening in Mantle?"

"Mantle has been dealing with an out-of-control…computer disease, if that makes sense." Ironwood tilts his head, squinting one eye, as if unsure of his explanation. "An old project that was let loose after a freak accident in one of our research facilities. Don't worry, we've evacuated and relocated those living in the affected areas."

"Okay, so…what's his deal?" She gestures towards Saint-14.

"Saint-Fourteen is a figure that is directly detrimental to the Amity Tower project, having intercepted and destroyed valuable shipments required to get it up and running," Ironwood says, pausing to catch his breath. "We haven't figured out if he's with Salem, but he has proven to be an extremely skilled fighter, able to take two of our Ace-Ops on at once seemingly without much effort."

Harriet tenses up while Marrow glances at her worriedly.

"Recent intel has suggested that he is headed for Ground Zero of the outbreak," Ironwood drags the map over to a dark-red area labelled _GROUND ZERO – RESTRICTED CLEARANCE ALPHA-0_.

"Isn't that a good thing? He's trying to stop it," Ruby squints as a few images of a mostly empty room taken over by pulsing red roots and glowing figures, non-descript due to the low resolution.

"His intent is noble, but our scientists have determined that the only way to stop it is to destroy the main core, the 'brain' of the outbreak." A picture of a black decahedron with an unknown symbol printed on one of the faces; a flat lozenge that's empty in the center, creating another with the negative space and another that wraps around the first, creating the look of an eye with two flat wings on top. "It would cause an explosion that would level the entirety of Mantle. Of course, we cannot allow this to happen."

Ironwood shakes his head and sighs. "We stopped deploying squads in the area, as the risk of death was too high, but we must stop him before he kills us all. We have our hands tied right now; we cannot stop the Amity project to focus on him. Which is why I will be splitting Ace-Ops. Team RWBY is to go with Harriet and Marrow into the Red Lands, while JNPR, Qrow, Clover, Elm and Vine will deal with clearing the Amity launch site."

"Understood, sir. How should we approach Saint-Fourteen?" Harriet asks, leaning her hands on the table, her face determined.

"Capture, if possible, but if it is too high of a risk, lethal force is authorized. Ruby, I know he doesn't look like anyone special, but _do not_ underestimate this man." Ironwood pulls up footage of Saint-14 fighting Harriet and Marrow in an unknown location.

"I…yes, sir, we'll get it done." Ruby bites her bottom lip.

"_**Are you…sure about this? This is Saint-Fourteen we're talking about,**_" Crimson inputs.

"_**I know…we'll figure it out when we run into him.**_"

"Good, suit up. Pietro should have your weapons and armor ready. Deployment is in an hour."

* * *

**Ruby meeting her Ghost, then encountering SIVA first hand. I'm excited to write what's next. **


	28. Shadow

Some hours have passed, Saint using most of the quiet time to rest for his journey to the location that hosts the SIVA Replication Chamber.

Ari lowers her Scroll, before tossing it onto the table hosting the hologram. The light bends for it and there is now a rectangular bump in the map of Mantle. She shakes her head, sighs, and the side of her fist gently collides against wood. "Alright, I just got off the phone with my superiors. Six Huntsmen have been sent to apprehend you. Two Ace-Ops, and four others—not sure what they're about. Beacon students, or something." She makes a tearing motion with her two hands, zooming into the big red dot that positions the heart of the SIVA threat. An image pops into view, of a red Warsat that's burnt in one half of the shell, revealing the glowing veins inside. Rasputin's emblem is blazoned on one of the faces, heavily decayed.

"Rasputin…" Saint mumbles, stepping closer to the picture. "This…this is the cause of the outbreak?"

"Supposedly," Ari says, her voice dry. She dips below the table and comes back up with a bottle of water, taking a sip before continuing. "This is the heart of The Project. It's located in a research facility about three blocks away from here. Doctor Watts was the director of this black-ops division of Atlas R and D, and mysteriously disappeared one day."

"This Doctor Watts, do you know him?" Saint rubs the chin of his helmet, slowly nodding.

"Not personally. He was an acclaimed scientist responsible for many of the breakthroughs in recent Atlas military tech, alongside Mantle's security network. I managed to scrounge up that a few weeks before his disappearance, he was going to be transferred and this replication project was to be shut down and contained." Ari snorts. "An egotistical man, he held on for dear life until he was forced to resign."

"I see. Do you think there is any way to contact him? Perhaps he may be of use," Saint asks, getting closer to a recently-appeared image of the mustached Dr. Arthur Watts.

"Disappeared without a trace. No one has been able to track him. Some sightings in Anima, but nothing concrete."

"Shame. It's time for me to leave. It is quite a distance I have to walk, and I have no interest in being caught by these six Huntsmen you've mentioned." Saint turns and steps towards the door.

"You have a few hours of head start on them, get moving quick and good luck, Saint-Fourteen."

"Ari, was it? If this isn't over by the time you are evacuated, you have the right to cut my head off." Saint nods and unshoulders Bastion.

"I'll hold you to that. Here." Ari tosses him a Scroll that feels unusually heavy, most likely due to the extra rubber padding on the sides and back. "It'll put you on the fastest path to the facility."

Saint inspects the armored device and stashes it away. "Thank you. I hope we meet again, whether it be through the bars of a jail cell or in the streets."

"It's an honor, actually. Watching a living legend embark on a journey before my very eyes. I feel like a side character, heh." A small smile forms on Ari's face. There is a moment's silence before it falls, and she shakes her head. She directs herself to the rifle leaning against a wall and scoops it up. "Fuck it. I'm coming with you." She pulls the magazine situated underneath the stock of the weapon, giving it a quick check before slotting it back in.

"A companion would be much appreciated. It seems that this is a lonely part of town." Saint chuckles, coming out as a low grumble.

"Well, let's go. If anyone's going to remember me, it'll be as a person who helped saved Mantle."

. . .

Ari and Saint walk down an empty street, devoid of activity except the tumbling of trash. The only noteworthy thing was a crashed tank breaking into a building. It's been a few minutes since they passed that, and everything is starting the blend together.

Mantle is a monotone city, for sure. Saint chalks this up to the lack of people inhabiting the buildings. There is not much illumination except the red flickering of the SIVA veins and some fringe light posts that are still operating despite the consumption of the nanites.

"We can cut through the Art and Culture district, pass through the Mantle Memorial Museum, Three-Ms for short." Ari continues following the main road, her face looking down at her Scroll. She looks up to a many-windowed building that is pitch black. There is a sign that is torn apart and dangling from a single rope, swaying side-to-side in a gentle manner.

"An entire section of the city dedicated to art and heritage? Where I'm from there is no such thing," Saint mumbles in reply, looking up at the massive building. He notices that a few windows are shattered. "This building contains it all?"

"Not exactly. This place was a major component in an Atlas outreach program to try and sway the people of Mantle to their side. It worked for a while, but eventually people saw through it." Ari shakes her head. "Don't see why they're complaining though, this is good, is it not?"

"It is true that a good thing done for bad reasons is still good," Saint says, putting his hands on his hips as he stops for a moment to observe the Three-Ms museum. It looks like the building is leaning towards him. He steps closer, to find out that the entire building is indeed slanted. "What magnificent architecture…" he mumbles.

"A lot of money and work was put into this. Before the outbreak, there was a giant mural that was being painted. If I can get the lights on inside, we can see how far that has gone." Ari tries one of the doors, pushing in the handlebar with her entire body. It opens slightly, but not big enough for any of them to fit through. "A little help?"

"Stand aside." Saint himself takes a few steps back, and courses Arc Light into his body. He gets a running start and using his shoulder, bashes the door wide open, throwing whatever was blocking it aside. There is a loud crash and the tumbling of many things. A dust cloud kicks up.

Ari shines a flashlight through, holding her arms in an X pattern, one hand with the flashlight another holding a pistol.

There is the pitter-patter of multiple light feet that scurry away from them.

"Definitely woke up everything in there," Ari says, matter-of-factly. She steps in first, checking both sides. "We're clear. Follow me. We'll make our way to the electrical panel of the lobby, and try to get that working."

Saint nods and stays close behind Ari, Bastion at the ready.

There is a roar in the faint distance, followed by several gunshots and a few explosions. A firefight erupts somewhere far away from them.

"Damn, they're faster than we thought. Come on, we better move." Ari picks up her pace. "Come on, it's not far now."

Her flashlight is a lone point in the darkness, lighting up only a few feet in front of her. Saint conjures a Hammer of Sol and raises it above him, setting it aflame to use it as a torch. "Much better," he says.

"Thanks," Ari replies. She steps over a body. "Careful, some bodies on the floor."

Saint looks down, making sure not to disturb the corpse that has no doubt found its peace in the dark. It's a husk of a body, drained of anything that could have indicated it was live in the first place. There is a dark, sticky and foul-smelling liquid on the floor surrounding the body. There are no discernable eyes or anything, but Saint knows that this person didn't go quietly.

They didn't go bravely, either. There is a gun on the floor, next to the body's head. A blood splatter on the opposite side.

"Saint, we don't have time for this," Ari says. Saint shakes his head and looks forward. Ari has gained a decent amount of distance. "I'm at the control panel, just give me a second."

A few sparks, then the clicks of industrial lights turning on. Round light fixtures come on, bright enough to make it seem like the sun is shing above. Everything is lit up clearly, without any detail spared.

Saint looks back at the entrance. The windowed wall has a magnificent, but unfinished mural made of vibrant, translucent colors that shimmer under the light. It seems to depict wintery mountains transitioning into a vibrant, lively city that has people dancing and enjoying life hand-in-hand. The mural remains unfinished, though, ending around some scaffolding above the main entrance. Saint looks to the floor around that area, and notices another body. He steps towards it.

This one has a paint brush next to its hand.

Saint can only imagine what this man was doing before SIVA attacked. It seems like despite the entire outbreak, he didn't stop his work on the mural, and was painting until his very last breath.

It also appears that Saint has disturbed his resting position, throwing him to the floor.

Saint's stomach churns at the thought. At the disrespect. He sighs, mumbles silent apologies and has a moment of silence.

"Let's go," he says.

/

_Atlas._

Lisbon sits in his cell. Same one as the one he was kept in the first time he was in this dump of an academy. He stares at a wall, his mind devoid of thoughts, truly empty for the first time in a while. No nightmare to plague him, no regret to bare its teeth, nothing to disturb him from this peace. His eyes slowly close shut.

All of a sudden, the door to his cell swings open. That isn't right, the door is a sliding one. The hallway behind it his pitch black, and a sort of mist is coming from it.

Lisbon blinks a few times, staring at the dark exit and contemplating if he should leave. Something clearly is amiss.

"Penny?" He wagers, standing up. Ancient Gospel materializes in his hand. "Someone?" He steps towards the door, his weapon raised.

The mist flows into the cell, eventually consuming the upper half of the air. It behaves like little, white wisps of smoke that bends around Lisbon.

His weapon feels heavy. It gets replaced with Omniscient Eye.

"What the…" Lisbon mumbles, looking at the sniper rifle. He didn't do that. He takes a breath and steels himself.

One step. Two.

When at the doorway, he stops. Hesitates.

He shouldn't be doing this.

Lisbon is pushed into an empty abyss. Falling. No ground below him. Nothing to catch him. Just an endless pit, devoid of life and empty.

Suddenly, a flash.

Lisbon is put back into The Black Garden.

Rekkana is in front of him.

"I've chosen my path, can you say the same?" She speaks softly, not turning. A dark ice is forming in her hand, shaping into some sort of spear, or staff. Silence.

"We didn't come here for this," Lisbon says. Except it's not him speaking, but something else doing it for him.

"Of course not, who could have predicted it?" Rekkana's reply is quick. "But now, with all that's happened, does it matter what our mission was? This is so much more important."

Lisbon struggles with this pre-recorded version of himself.

Another flash.

"He said he'd always trust me," Rekkana mumbles. The mangled corpses of Vex Goblins lay in pieces behind her. She stumbles and nearly hits the floor. Yardarm catches her.

Lisbon looks away, up to his vantage point. He recognizes the glare of his sniper rifle. He couldn't have seen them from there, or else he would have taken a shot.

"Yeah, he also said he'd never leave us. Turns out you can say a lot of things."

Another flash.

"_**In Light…there is only deception, betrayal. Failure.**_" A voice comes from his own head. A distorted version of his own Ghost. "_**You've witnessed it first-hand.**_"

Lisbon finds himself in an open field covered in the mechanical red flowers that grows all over The Black Garden. Another person stands a far distance away to his front, their hands clasped together and held in front of their stomach. Their face is covered in shadow but there are faint hues of pink.

"_**The Traveler left you for dead, and still you stayed loyal. Your companions accepted our offer, but why didn't you?**_" The shadowed figure begins approaching him. The voice morphs into something recognizable.

His own.

"_**You rejected salvation, but we reach out once more, to give you another chance.**_"

Lisbon feels his lips dry. "…Why?" He mutters.

"_**Why? There are many answers to that question, too long to list for our limited time here.**_" The figure remains shrouded even directly in front of Lisbon. It reaches out a mechanical arm and puts it on his shoulder, gripping it tight. "_**You have to realize, in Light…you will lose everything you hold close, it does not care for you.**_"

"As if you do? Get away from me, you dark mother-"

Lisbon takes a step back. The figure cuts him off; some frustration can be sensed from it.

"_**By rejecting our gift, your friends, your loved ones died.**_" The voice is firm, and the shroud in the figure's face is unveiled, only for Lisbon to be staring at himself. "_**And it will happen again, and again, and again. Tell me, do you think Penny is ready for the events to come?**_"

"Get her name out of your fucking mouth, you don't know shit about Penny."

"_**It is merely a rhetorical question, as you call it. We both know the answer.**_"

Lisbon swallows a gulp. "No, you don't. Penny can handle herself, she knows-"

"_**Do you speak with certainty? Are you willing to risk losing another close one? Like Rekkana, like Yardarm? Do you think you are enough?**_"

Lisbon hesitates, and looks to clone's feet. He stays silent.

The clone chuckles and smiles at him, before turning around.

"_**I await your answer, for the next time we meet.**_" It pauses. "_**The gift, you have it. All it needs is simply your acceptance.**_"

. . .

Lisbon's back snaps up straight. His breathing his heavy, and artificial sweat runs down his back. His vision is unfocused, trying to concentrate on everything at once.

"…_**It tried…talking to you…**_" Ghost mumbles. "_**I couldn't stop it…It just took control.**_"

"_**It's alright. I…**_"

Lisbon doesn't know what to say.

"_**You're not going to listen to it, right?**_"

"_**Can we talk about this later, please? I'm still a bit foggy.**_"

Ghost stays silent.

Lisbon's cell door slides open. A soldier places themselves at the doorway.

"You have a visitor," she says, cocking her head towards the hallway. Lisbon stands up and walks to her, is immediately handcuffed and then brought out.

The walk to the interrogation room isn't long. The hallway is still as impeccably bright as he remembers it, maybe a tad brighter than normal. Lisbon is seated inside a room with a single wooden table and two chairs placed on opposite sides. He is seated and the soldier reaches for his handcuffs.

"What are you doing?" He asks as his restraints are unlocked and taken off.

"Your visitor specifically requested it," the soldier says, stuffing them in her back pocket before turning towards the room's only entrance. "Do you need anything?"

"Water."

"…Uh, okay." The soldier seems puzzled but leaves and returns with a plastic water bottle in less than a minute. She places it in front of him, before leaving the room for good.

Lisbon sits in silence for a few moments that feel stretched out. He glances to the four security cameras in the top corners of the room, then to the one-way glass panel. Nothing. Then, one-by-one, the cameras begin to shut down, all pointing downwards by the end.

The door slides open.

Penny steps inside, a guilty face on her. She's still wearing the same dress and skirt.

"…Penny? What's the meaning of all this?" Lisbon says, standing up.

"Lisbon, I thought about what you said and…" Penny avoids eye contact. "I want to say that I'm sorry."

"You don't have to, I acted out of line-"

"No. Your reaction is reasonable considering how much I overstepped." She moves towards the other side of the table, opposite to Lisbon. Her gaze is firm. "I'm sorry about your friends and I wouldn't have pushed if I knew."

"Penny, there was no way you could have known," Lisbon says. He stares to the water bottle on the table. "There's no need for this. I was being...unreasonable."

He finds himself unable to look away from her.

"I should also be sorry, is what I mean," he manages to push out.

This type of honesty doesn't sit right with Lisbon.

Penny reaches out for one of his hands, and holds it tightly with her two palms.

"I hope we can rebuild our friendship. I spoke with the general to see if anything could be done for your freedom." She lets go, and turns away, then tries to leave, but stops when she realizes something is holding her back. "Lisbon?"

"Uh…stay…stay safe, out there, Penny," Lisbon mumbles, before letting go.

Penny smiles and eagerly nods, returning to her usual liveliness. "Message received!"

Lisbon watches her leave.

Maybe she isn't the worst after all.

* * *

**Just friends btw. Lisbon and Penny's relationship won't be overly detailed but will be important for certain choices the former will take.**

**And if you've read all the way to this point, I want to sincerely thank you for reading. This has been a blast to write and seeing people actually liking my stuff fills me with joy.**


	29. Trailing Behind

**My new story featuring Lord Felwinter has come out, so check my profile for that if you're interested in a more traditional crossover story.**

**If you've done Wrath of the Machine, you'll probably recognize some mechanics I'm gonna implement but it'll mostly be an altered version with some similarities, because the actual boss fight isn't very interesting to read about.**

**Also, get **_**the**_** theme song ready. Phase 2, specifically. You'll know when to put it on.**

**Edit: I realized I was writing in the past tenth for like the first eighth of this chapter before switching to present.**

* * *

Before deploying into what Ironwood called "The Red Lands" in pursuit of Saint-14, team RWBY were requested to the weapons lab of Atlas Academy.

A kind old man who called himself Pietro introduced himself, before going straight into the details of the upgrades he did to every team members' weapons. He led them into a laboratory that wasn't the most well-kept. Various parts, most of them for guns and the rest for other weaponry, along with the occasional discarded tool, lay strewn about in a disorderly fashion.

Ruby nearly trips over a the barrel of a torn-apart sniper rifle with a blue koi-fish decal on the side of the thin white barrel housing, at least thin compared to other snipers of this size.

"Aw…" she mumbles, kneeling down to pick it up, brushing her hand over the cold metal construction. It looks meticulously disassembled, with only one half of the barrel housing actually present, the actual barrel and magazine were missing. "Hope you served well, little buddy."

"Ah, Ruby Rose! The upgrades I had for your weapon were the most ambitious I have ever had the pleasure to implement, though it mostly wasn't my idea," Pietro says, beaming a smile as he picks up Crescent Rose from a workbench that was next to the fallen sniper rifle. "You can thank your new friend Crimson for them!"

Crimson appears from behind Pietro and floats to the side of his head, her flight pattern a bit cheery. She tilts her shell and winks with her one eye. "You'll love it, I promise."

"Oh, you didn't have to, just a regular tune-up would've been fine…" Ruby puts down the white sniper rifle on the workbench before taking Crescent Rose from Pietro's hands. She gives it a once-over, to check for any visual changes in its folded form. For some reason it feels…charged, like she's in tune with the exact frequency of power it could dish out, which is _a lot._ This makes it feel entirely familiar, even though the weight was on the heavier side, which she would normally mess with her melee abilities with the weapon, but this one felt right.

After her somewhat speedy examination, the only thing she noticed was a new white accent that replaced the black of the original barrel housing and a new button above the magazine holder.

"It was quite an intricate and beautiful upgrade, in fact. Crimson was there to guide me on how to make it work, seeing it was my first time working with the weapons from the Undying Mind," Pietro says, before some color drained of his face and his eyes widened. "Oops, perhaps I shouldn't have said that." He chuckles and regular joyous attitude returns.

"Other than the white and this button…what did you actually do?" Ruby asks, raising an eyebrow.

"I'll give you some info on the sniper rifle we had to butcher to augment yours," Crimson says, and is about to continue but stops herself upon hearing Ruby's gasp. "What?"

"You had to kill that white one to upgrade mine? It was so pretty!" Ruby exclaims, a bit saddened that a perfectly good sniper rifle had to be decommissioned for hers. She looks at the now seemingly mangled one on the table. "Did it at least have a good life?"

"I…wouldn't know, it just showed up one day. It looked like it had a ton of use on it, so in terms of longevity, this is actually a downgrade."

"You're not making it any better!" Ruby says. "But go on." Her attention refocuses on her weapon, and her mood goes back to its usual cheerfulness.

"Anyways, the gun we used was called the _Izanagi's Burden._ From surface appearance, it looks like a regular, chic-design sniper rifle. However, it had the possibility of loading up to four rounds together into a hyper-charged single round that…" Crimson's voice somewhat drowns itself out in the end as Ruby's eyes starts shimmering at the possibilities the new upgrade put on the table for her. "Hey, are you even listening!?"

"…No," is all Ruby can say. "So…Crescent Rose can do that too?"

"I was hoping you got that based off of the explanation alone, but yes. It can do that, Pietro, you can take over for the second part."

"Oh, of course! The quick-config Dust interface was created by yours truly—" Pietro does a little introductory bow for himself. "And combined with tri-Dust rounds, also designed by me, allows for quick, on-the-fly switching of Dust element to accommodate any situation or obstacle that presents itself for you!"

"That sounds like an ad," Crimson says flatly.

"It sounds great, though!" Ruby says, pressing the new button and hearing an audible click before it lit up orange. She presses it again and the color changes to blue, then again, for it to change to yellow. "So, I can switch like that, cool…really cool." She chuckles, a devious hint in her voice. Her mind exploded with possibilities.

"Of course, the system is backwards-compatible, meaning if you prefer to load Dust rounds the old-fashioned way, you are still able to do so!" Pietro's excitement sounds like it's growing by the minute. "Whenever you have the chance to put your weapon into action, do record some footage for me."

"I'll try my best-"

"Attention, Team RWBY are requested to hangar Alpha-Two for deployment in t-minus ten minutes. I repeat, Team RWBY are requested to hangar Alpha-Two for deployment in t-minus ten minutes," the PA system's robotic female voice reminds.

. . .

The dropship smoothly hummed in the background.

"Mission is simple. We drop in, link up with Ember-One, and stick together to get to Ground Zero _before_ Saint-Fourteen does, otherwise it's mission failed and we can say goodbye to Mantle, and ourselves." Harriet stands in front of Team RWBY, who are all seated on the seats attached to the walls of the Manta airship. "This section of Mantle is incredibly dangerous; at least a dozen Huntsmen have died to exposure to nanites." She slips on a full-face respirator with a hard, clear material as a visor.

"When we approach Ground Zero, these respirators have to be on _constantly._ The concentration of nanites there can kill you within minutes," Harriet says, her voice slightly muffled. "Your Scrolls are designed to withstand the interference present in the area, so communications should be secure. Anything else I need to cover?" She turns to Marrow, and slips off her respirator.

"Should we talk about the _actual_ threat we're going after?" He suggests. "Saint-Fourteen?"

"Right, Saint-Fourteen is an extremely dangerous, and extremely unstable fugitive. If we are to take him on, it's with all of us." Harriet sounds angry, thirsty for blood. "If we're unable to capture, then we are allowed to kill. Understood?"

A moment's silence.

"…Yes ma'm," Team RWBY says, with varying levels of energy, trending towards the low-end.

"Good, the key to making it out of this place alive is to stay together," Harriet finishes, sitting back down. "We drop in a minute."

"Sounds like staying alive is our first priority…" Blake mutters. "I don't like this."

Ruby shoots her a reassuring smile. "Hey, we'll make it, just like every other time."

"If it makes it any better, I know this part of Mantle like the back of my hand. There's no way Saint-Fourteen is gonna get to G-Zero first," Marrow says. "And it'll be round two, we're gonna kick his ass."

Ruby thinks his confidence is misplaced.

"Round two?" She asks.

"We've had a run-in with him before," Harriet says, her tone indicating that she doesn't want to talk about it anymore.

A red light comes on, accompanied by a harsh _beep._ Harriet stands up, and slides the side door open.

"It's go time," she says, nodding to Team RWBY.

All four stand up, nod at each other before getting a running start to their aerial insertion.

. . .

Everyone lands relatively together. Some on rooftops, most on street-level.

The city is deathly quiet. Ruby is unnerved by the artificiality of it all. Everything is dead; like Kuroyuri. She's waiting for the Grimm to pop out from between buildings any second now.

"_Keep an eye on your Scrolls, nanites can hit your Aura without you even noticing,_" Harriet points out.

Ruby takes out her new Scroll, padded with rubber edges and feeling more like a brick than her first one. It could retract itself into a more compact form factor which showed basic Aura meters of her teammates.

"_I don't like this place…_" Yang mumbles on comms.

"_Feels like every step we take is closer to death,_" Blake answers. "_Looks like there was a fight here pretty recently. A lot of bodies on the rooftops._"

"_Heh, you were always a poet, Blake…_" Yang snorts to herself.

Ruby rolls her eyes. "Weiss, how are you holding up?"

"_I'm fine…I remember hearing my dad talk about this sector. He was trying to keep offices open and was protesting the evacuation order. If only I could show him this, but I still don't believe he would understand._" Weiss sounds regretful, and somewhat resentful. "_To think that people were being slaughtered and all he cared about was his bottom line._"

"_Sounds like the Schnee Dust Company to me,_" Blake quips.

"_Yep, very in character for my father,_" Weiss says, before going silent.

"_Focus up, we might have trouble. I'm not detecting Ember-One's signal in her hideout._"

"That's not good, is it?" Ruby takes out Crescent Rose, unfolding it only to its gun form. She scans the street in front of her.

"_Not at all. Either she's dead, or left. We told her to stay put,_" Harriet says gravely. "_Yang, Blake on the rooftop, everyone else with me. We breach on my go._"

Ruby nods and follows Harriet, with Weiss at her side. They go up a few flight of stairs leading to a closed door. They all stack up on the wall next to it, with Harriet in front.

"Breach in three, two, one, _go._" The Ace-Op punches the door open and goes headfirst. Ruby uses her semblance and speeds into the room, landing in a corner of the room with Crescent Rose ready to shoot anything that could be considered an enemy.

Weiss and Marrow followed behind them. Blake and Yang broke the upstairs door and moved quickly to clear their zones.

Ruby lowers her weapon upon realizing that there was no one here.

"She's not here," Ruby says, making her way to the wooden table with the hologram map of this section of Mantle.

"Why would she leave? She knows it's a death wish out there," Marrow mumbles. "Saint-Fourteen was here, too, wasn't he? He can't be far."

"What makes you think he wouldn't be far?" Ruby asks, brushing a lock of hair that moved into her line of vision. She looks over to the map, and her eyes lock onto a flashing red line that snakes through the streets of Mantle. "Looks like someone plotted out a path, to Ground Zero."

Harriet takes a look at the map. "Marrow, any idea if what's on there makes sense?"

Marrow takes a look, mumbles to himself before humming. "There is no way he would have plotted this out on his own. This is precisely the _second-fastest _route to Ground Zero, and from what I'm seeing, this is manually plotted."

"Why wouldn't he go through the fastest?" Weiss asks.

"A giant…thing has been spotted around the roads on the fastest way. It alone was responsible for the deaths of six Huntsmen," Harriet says, swiping in the air before bringing up the picture of a six-legged, centaur-like being that glows red. In the photo, it stands about three-quarters of the height of an apartment building. "Nearly twenty-six feet in height, calls itself _Aksis, _this thing is practically invulnerable and smarter than any Grimm we have ever seen."

"This would've been good to know in the ship," Yang points out. "So what do we do? We're obviously behind, and if we go the fast way, we risk getting killed by that…thing."

Harriet takes a breath and closes her eyes. "We have no other choice. If we encounter it, we run past. Either that, or we pull back and pay our respects to Mantle."

Yang looks like she wants to snap back, but backs down, obviously unhappy about the situation.

"And what about Ember-One?" Blake asks.

"She must have gone with him. Her helmet's gone," Harriet says. "Come on, let's go before they create too much distance."

. . .

Once on the road, the fireteam of six kept their eyes peeled for any appearances of this Aksis being. This entire place felt like Kuroyuri, except with an even more sinister feeling to it.

Ruby was especially uneasy, her finger a hair away from unloading the entirety of Crescent Rose's magazine into wherever a suspicious noise would come from.

"_**Don't worry, I paged Osiris, he'll be on comms soon.**_" Ruby jumped at Crimson's voice in her head. "_**Sorry, you should have given you warning.**_"

"Something wrong, Rubes?" Yang asks. Ruby shakes her head.

"I'm…I'm fine, just a bit jittery," she says, nervously chuckling. "This place gives me the creeps."

"Me too. If there's anything you need to talk about, I'm here," Yang says, flashing her sister a bright smile.

"Thanks, sis." Ruby returns with one of her own.

"_If I had known Ironwood had thrown you all into a SIVA contaminated area without any prior preparation, I would have volunteered to act as tactical support,_" Osiris' voice comes in through everyone's earpieces.

"What is he doing on our comms?" Harriet asks.

"_If you don't need my help, then by all means feel free to close the line. For those that do want to have a chance to survive and possibly defeat the Archon Prime, then continue listening._" Osiris takes a pause. "_There is one key to defeating Aksis: Using the very technology that empowers it against it._ _One of you will have to be exposed to the nanites. That one will have to be Ruby._"

"What? Why me?" Ruby gulps, before steeling herself.

"_Your body is the only one that can handle a charge and Empowerment without…a violent end, to put it lightly._"

"Alright, what do I have to do?"

"_Aksis will release a swarm of nanites from his body, you will have to run into it,_" Osiris says. "_A cluster of nanites should form in your hands. You will feel powerful, but don't hold onto it for too long or you will be destroyed from the inside. With the charge, you will throw it at him which will stun him for a moment, allowing for a brief window for damage._ _While he is stunned, strike him on the exposed part of his back that will open up, once that's done, don your respirators and take cover._"

"…_**Do you hear something?**_" Crimson asks.

"Osiris, hold on a sec." Ruby focuses her hearing, and stops in her tracks. She's hearing some sort of heavy pitter-patter, like a giant spider is stomping around the streets. The noises grow louder, and dangerously close.

"_Cut the chatter, we got company!_" Harriet exclaims through the radio. "_It's the big guy! Get ready to move!_"

A massive six-legged creature, the exact thing that was shown in the picture at Ember-One's hideout, turns a corner and rears its deformed and mangled body to the six Huntsmen and Huntresses. It screeches, making reverberations in the air before rushing them all. In its hands was some sort of two-barreled rifle that was eager to fire.

It fires red blobs into the air that would fall down, their trajectories haphazard but all with the possibility of hitting someone.

Ruby willed her legs to moved and quickly dashed away from the projectile that was coming down for her, narrowly evading the red fire that explodes into a swarm of the red nanites that fades away after a second.

"_Return fire, give Ruby the space she needs!_" Blake says. Volleys of gunfire is returned to Aksis.

"Weiss, I'll need your help getting close!" Ruby reloads her already full Crescent Rose, combining four rounds into one. She marvels for a second as her sniper rifle attains a blue and pink hue, before firing at Aksis' own weapon. The hyper-charged shot hits true, making the beast flinch, and stopping him for a second.

"_On it!_" Weiss twirls her rapier and stabs it into the floor, summoning a series of glyphs that form a ramp of ice.

"Thanks!" She cries before firing Crescent Rose behind her, using the force of the bullet to propel herself forward and slide on the ramp. It curves downwards, before launching her into the air, where she reaches her hand into the swarm of red nanites, wincing as they all converge and try to eat her hand, before forming into a red, violently pulsating ball.

Ruby throws it at Aksis the moment it's in her palm.

The six-legged mechanical beast roars before its upper torso goes limp, exposing a white glow coming from a crack in its spine, surrounded by nanites.

Ruby dives into the cloud of red particles, and her breath hitches as they cling onto every single part of her body. She feels…charged, _strong,_ like she could take this thing on in a fist fight and still win.

"_**Don't let it get to your head, just punch it in his spine and get some damage in!**_" Crimson warns.

Ruby shakes her head and dives onto Aksis' back. She charges a fist full of Arc mixed with the Empowerment of the nanites, before throwing her entire arm into Aksis' spine.

Aksis bellows strong enough to generate a force, before going limp again.

"Now, throw everything you have at it!" She screams.

The rest of her team are quick to work. Yang goes under and plants several explosives that blow up in a chain. Blake is unloading whatever she has in her pistol into its body. Weiss is freezing its six legs shut. Harriet is running circles around it while delivering devastating punches. Marrow stays back and fires from afar.

The entire period lasts around twenty seconds, maybe a bit less.

"Get away, it's waking up!" Ruby uses her Semblance to create distance. "Masks on and take cover!" She barrels through a window and takes cover underneath a table inside an apartment. She peeks out to see Aksis, with its two hands clawed up and in front of its face, charging a sort of pulse as unstable red pulses fire off from its body, before culminating into a blind explosion.

Once Ruby feels that it's safe to peek out, she flies out in a burst of petals, landing on the road. Her teammates stand by her side, weapons raised and ready to fight.

Aksis roars at them, its entire body looking like it will charge, but it instead begins to back away, fleeing at an incredible pace and a few seconds later, it's gone.

"It…ran," Weiss says. "Did we really scare it off?"

"Looks like we did," Ruby says, pleasantly surprised.

Yang doesn't buy it. "It looked ready to fight but it just…ran away. That's not right."

"It didn't look at all scared of us, maybe Ruby…but why would it do that?" Blake asks. "We couldn't do anything until Ruby did whatever that was!"

"Either it's smarter than we thought or…oh shit." Harriet begins running towards Ground Zero. "We have to move. Saint-Fourteen might already be close."

"Rubes, you definitely have to explain what you did." Yang slaps Ruby on the back, a wide grin on her face. "You were amazing!"

"Thanks, sis, but we better get moving."

/

Osiris watches the footage of Ruby Rose single-handedly stunning Aksis, allowing her teammates to put some fire into it, and then the Archon Prime running, not with its tail tucked between its legs, but because it had a bigger problem to deal with. He nods in approval before shutting down Crimson's feed of Ruby Rose.

"At least the girl is good at remembering advice," Osiris mutters.

"_**She's just like her mother,**_" Sagira says. "_**Not to mention she's so adorable!**_"

Saint-14 was approaching the Replication Chamber at a surprising rate. Osiris kept tabs on his friend's location and silently wished him luck, somewhat annoyed that he had garnered such a bad reputation in Atlas.

Jaune, Nora, Ren, Qrow and the rest of those Ace-Ops people were sent to clear a landing spot for the Amity Colosseum.

It appears the general wasn't taking his advice to heart. Which was mostly expected. Osiris doesn't even believe that he would convince Ironwood of stopping his plans with The Undying Mind voluntarily.

"_**Here's that schematic of the Atlesian Knight-Two-Hundred you wanted,**_" Sagira says, transmatting a rolled up blue paper in Osiris' hand.

"I appreciate that." The Warlock looked both ways before unrolling the paper, holding it vertically. He scanned the technical drawing of the innards of the robot soldiers that made up the bulk of the Atlesian army. His finger traced to the core, situated in its stomach where it is shielded by several layers of plating.

"Radiolaria core…" he mumbles, before rolling the sheet back up. "These people believe that The Undying Mind is merely a computer that obeys, and Atlas was in possession of it for centuries?" He passes off the blueprint to Sagira, who transmats it away.

Osiris rubs his forehead. "It appears we have quite a bit of work to do."

"_**Well, your work is cut out for someone of your stature.**_"

Osiris chortles. "I suppose it is."

* * *

**I'll say it outright, Osiris will be more a background character this season, but will still play a huge role. More of a focus on Ruby and her growing into her new Guardian abilities.**


	30. A Little Update From The Author

**TL;DR: This story is under the process of rewriting from the very beginning. New Ghosts, better lore integration, rewritten characters.**

So, it's been a while, huh? Went MIA for a few months. Beyond Light's just released, RWBY Volume 8 is out, oh boy. In the midst of writing the 30th chapter (wow!) I went back to re-read the entire story and felt that there were a lot of things to improve on. This sort of picked at me resulting in me unable to complete the 30th chapter and now I want to completely build things back up. On top of school recommencing in this COVID era and blagh. Lots of stuff, little time to write, lots of things I want to write.

Main things I want to change:

Saint-14 and Ilia arc: I found it a bit too short and Ilia still retains that cringe-factor that the show portrayed her with. I want to make her a more sympathetic, likeable character before things start hitting the fan. A reviewer pointed out that he thought the story was integrating to the main RWBY plotline too quickly, and it took me a while but I sort of agree now.

Saint-14's Ghost, or lack thereof: I will be adding Geppetto to accompany Saint-14 in his travels.

Osiris's implementation: It was a bit shoved and my initial depiction of him was...underpowered, to say the least. I'll probably put him in earlier with the RWBY cast, and not shove him with Weiss in the middle of a fight.

Main story beats: I want to diverge a bit from the RWBY canon and write some stuff on top of the main things. Think of it as an improvement to the RWBY storyline.

Lisbon-13: I felt that his arc was forced and cringeworthy. I'll rework it. His Ghost now has a name, Piri, and it's a she! So, I'll have to add that in. I'm also looking to integrate more of the new Deep Stone Crypt lore that released with Beyond Light.

RWBY Villain integration with Destiny: I will be keeping this factor in, but in a different way maybe. Not too sure yet of the main details but some things might change. Expect the same Oryx, Crota relationship. SIVA is still going to be there. I personally think this is necessary because Salem is akin to a Destiny 2 strike boss and would probably be an Ascendant Shard farm if an assault on her was an Ordeal Nightfall.

So yeah, that's where I am at in the brainstorming of the revival of this story. The writing process will most likely start after the Deep Stone Crypt raid has come out, cause I am levelling for a Day 1 clear and most likely won't have time to write in the midst of all the prep.

I will most likely just post the revised version as a new story entirely, so watch out for that, I guess. Sorry if I got your hopes up, but I hope to get back onto writing this piece of fanfiction.


End file.
